Solomon's Purgatory
by joli.kawaii.ciel
Summary: Ciel starts attending Weston College, an old fashioned all-boys boarding school at the whim of his father. On his first night, his roommate is found dying in the snow. It's up to Ciel to decipher the clues and investigate the secret society that appears to be behind the recent mysterious events at the school. CielxSebastian. Complete
1. First Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Summary:** Ciel starts attending Weston College, an old fashioned all-boys boarding school at the whim of his father. On his first night, his roommate is found dying in the snow. It's up to Ciel to decipher the clues and investigate the secret society that appears to be behind the recent mysterious events at the school. CielxSebastian.

* * *

 **Chapter 1:**

Ciel exhaled irritably and was even more disheartened to see how visible the vapour was. Not only was he starting school at a snobby all-boys boarding school, it was coldest winter for decades. It had been snowing on and off all day and the school was surrounded by snow several inches deep. The school was also in the middle of nowhere and was hard to get into.

He shot a dark look at his father who was warm and cosy in the car. Ciel had been sent out the car to open the gates so they could then drive another half a mile to actually get to the school. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long to get in contact with the receptionist who opened the gates remotely. That would be his only stroke of good luck of that day.

He knocked the snow off his shoes before getting back into the car. Pulling out of the school he had been attending before was not his decision. His father had turned up the day before and told him that Weston College had a vacancy for someone his age and he was going to fill it before some other son of an aristocrat got in. It was an understatement to say that Ciel was annoyed with his father.

Weston College had a reputation for being a very strange boarding school that was still in the Victorian era from its buildings to its values. Ciel himself had attended a private school until yesterday that he had no issues with. The original intention had been for him to attend from Weston College from the start; an untimely skiing accident in France during the Christmas holidays five years ago had caused him to miss to admission interviews.

Vincent Phantomhive chose the half mile drive from the front gates to the actual school to impart some fatherly wisdom and advice. Or rather Phantomhive style advice.

"Weston College don't _officially_ allow fagging anymore. They won't say anything if you actually manage to persuade some lower school boy to clean your room for you though."

Being raised on a range of British literature meant that Ciel actually knew what fagging meant. He was glad that it was not a practise anymore although he was going to be one of the older students so it would have benefited him.

"Did you have a fag?" He asked curiously.

He could picture a teenage version of his father ordering a younger boy to polish his shoes very well.

His father smirked in a somewhat vampiric manner.

"Of course I did. Do you remember Diedrich? That's how we met."

Ciel frowned. Diedrich was a rather large German man that did his father's European based unscrupulous business for him and he didn't carry it out happily.

"…It sounds like you made him your fag for life," he replied.

Vincent practically beamed at him before turning back to his usual stern self.

"I did. You should get one as well. They're really useful."

The conversation was put on hold when the actual school came into view. The photos in the school prospectus hadn't quite done the gothic architecture justice. Unlike other schools that had added onto their original buildings with modern architecture, this school was completely Victorian with statues, turrets and a clock tower. The roof, spires and turrets were blanketed with a thick layer of snow.

The grey sky behind it helped give it a dark atmosphere. Ciel felt that the school wouldn't look out of a place in an old horror film.

"It hasn't changed at all," his father said with a tone of satisfaction. "It's probably still arctically cold inside. Old buildings don't lend themselves well to modern heating."

Ciel was suddenly grateful to his mother for packing him two hot water bottles, a thermal vest and three blankets. He had thought she had been going over the top because he was going away. Now he knew why she had gone overboard.

"You're lucky the uniform was updated a few years ago; I had to wear shorts all year," Vincent explained.

Ciel shuddered at the thought of wearing shorts in this weather. He was feeling the cold enough in trousers.

* * *

Being a Phantomhive meant that his father ditched him at the entrance of the school and drove off almost immediately after telling him to make some contacts, the shadier the better. Ciel wasn't too sad to see him go and walked into the dark building without looking back to check for the car.

Soon after he was led to see his head of house and the house prefect. He had been placed in the Sapphire Owl house that was more commonly referred to as the blue house due to the colour.

"The blue house prefect, Lawrence Bluewer here will take you on a tour," the head of house said once the introductions were done. "The Easter term starts next week, some of the students are already back here to study for the mock exams."

The change in school had come at an inconvenient time for Ciel as he was in his final year of GCSEs. Weston College used a different exam board so a lot of what he had learnt was now useless.

"Do I have to do the exams?" Ciel asked.

His housemaster levelled him with a surprised look.

"Of course you do. You have a week to study for them, the relevant books have been left in your bedroom."

Another aspect that Ciel hadn't liked about Weston College was the shared rooms. Whilst it could have been a whole dormitory, he still wasn't looking forward to having a roommate.

"I saw your admission test scores, you should be fine," the prefect said encouragingly. "That's why you were placed in this house."

Did that mean he was in the house destined for nerds?

* * *

"This is the humanities department," Lawrence pointed. "Across there is the theatre for drama students- they have to write and perform the annual school production. Here is the science department. The numbering system means that you should find all the rooms easily."

Weston College was definitely an old building. Ciel was feeling a chill and he was still wearing his coat. Lawrence on the other hand was dressed in full school uniform and wasn't showing any signs of being cold.

"The staff's bedrooms are on the floor below our bedrooms so they can hear when someone is up late," the prefect continued. "We are coming up to the canteen."

The first thing that hit Ciel about the canteen was the warmth. It also had a slightly more modern interior compared to everywhere else. That meant no wallpaper, lots of white walls and plenty of radiators.

"This is the new canteen so it's actually warm," Lawrence commented cheerily. "The desserts are good as well."

The mention of desserts made Weston College rise slightly higher in his estimation. Having central heating would have done more, but he would take what he could get with this school.

"The area where the old canteen was located is off limits to everyone because it's unsafe," the prefect explained. "Anyone caught gets worse than a detention."

"What's worse than a detention? Suspension?" Ciel asked.

Old fashioned private schools were known to have strange punishments. His school, a more modern private school had made troublemaking students come into school at the weekends for detention.

Lawrence chose to smirk mysteriously instead of answering.

"Try not to find out," he warned. "Anyway, the last stop will be your room. Your roommate arrived back this week. Unfortunately, we have to walk outside to get back to that building, this school needs more modernisation."

With that the prefect turned away and walked quickly out the canteen. Ciel struggled to catch up with him due to his short legs. They stopped outside a door marked 11 – A.

The prefect knocked on the door and pushed it open when there was no answer. Ciel looked around for his new roommate and found the room empty. His suitcase had been placed neatly by his bed by someone else. Both sides of the room were mirrors of each other except his side looked much emptier.

"He must be in the library," Lawrence explained. "If you don't see him before dinner you'll see him at curfew. Curfew is 11pm until the term starts. It's 10pm after that."

The prefect left him after that leaving Ciel alone to unpack and poke around his new bedroom. He placed his clothes in his slightly mouldy smelling wardrobe and placed the blankets on the bed. Judging by the temperature of the room in the afternoon, it was going to be a cold night. He discovered a radiator underneath his desk that was sadly stone cold. Resting on top of his desk was a stack of textbooks from the curriculum and his new school uniform.

With his luggage unpacked and nothing much to do before dinner, Ciel elected to cross to the other side of the room. The door had no lock on so it was going to be easy to get caught having a snoop. It would be helpful to know a few things about his roommate before he met him.

Luckily his new roommate was neat and tidy from the appearance of his desk and bed. There weren't any posters on the wall to indicate a personality as sticking posters on the walls were banned. There were however a few post it notes with mathematical formulae stuck on the side of the wardrobe. Ciel read the name off the exercise book lying in the middle of the desk.

Sebastian Michaelis.

The name wasn't familiar to him. He knew or had heard of titled males around his age. Ciel reminded himself that he could be a scholarship student. He debated having a deeper search through Sebastian's side of the room and decided against it for now.

Instead he started reading through the textbooks that had been left for him. If he was going to ace the mock exams he had to use any chance he got to revise. He next thing he knew it was six in the evening which was when the dinner period started and his roommate still hadn't returned from wherever he was.

Ciel's stomach rumbled and made his mind up for him. He could judge his roommate after dinner that hopefully involved a good dessert. He was about to leave the room when he remembered that all students had to wear school uniform at all times, including dinner.

He pulled on the uniform hastily. The uniform consisted of black trousers, white shirt, black waistcoat, a tie that was black and blue striped to represent his house and a black blazer with a gold name badge pinned to it. Ciel felt a cold chill once he was dressed and immediately put on his coat.

He looked out the window to check the weather as the route to the canteen involved walking outside and frowned when he saw that it was snowing again. He would have to ask Sebastian whenever he turned up about how to not freeze to death at Weston College. He was somewhat disconcerted and relieved by not encountering any other pupils on his route out the dormitory.

Ciel stepped outside with a shiver as the cold wind and snow pummelled his face making it hard to see where he was going. His shoes were also feeling inadequate due to the fact that they were sinking into the deep blanket of snow on the ground. There were a few old fashioned streetlights casting dim light to illuminate the path.

Suddenly he heard a loud thud behind him and he whirled around. At first he was completely confused and then he realised something had fallen down onto the now.

He bent down and saw in the poor light from the streetlight that it was a person in a Weston college uniform. He stood still for a moment in shock and then lurched into action.

Whoever it was had dark black hair covering his face and had a small pool of blood around his head. Ciel checked for a pulse and found a weak one. He could hear faint breaths coming from whoever it was. The student was still alive, probably due to the snow cushioning his fall. He thought about finding someone else to help and knew it would take too long considering the only pupil he had seen was the prefect two hours ago so he dialled 999 and requested an ambulance. As he talked on the phone he looked up at where the student should have fallen from and thought that he could see a figure standing on the roof. He blinked and the figure was gone when he looked again.

As he leaned down to apply pressure to the student's injury he noticed the name badge glint in the light and let out a faint gasp when he read the name.

It appeared that he wasn't going to be sharing a room with Sebastian Michaelis for a while.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I'm going to assume that most people reading this are going to know what fagging is. In case you don't it's** an obsolete practise at British boarding schools that involved younger pupils doing task for older pupils like polishing their shoes.

 **In light of something that occurred this week I am going to confirm two things: Sebastian will not die and there is not going to be a plot twist involving suicide.**


	2. Second Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 2:**

Ciel didn't have time to digest the full impact of the boy bleeding on the snow turning out to be the person he had been waiting to see all afternoon as he heard quick footsteps approaching. He was relieved to see two people he recognised come out the darkness dressed in thick coats.

The blue house prefect and his cousin.

"Phantomhive, what's going on?" Bluewer asked sharply. "Midford said he saw something strange out his window."

Edward was faster on the uptake and came to crouch on the melting snow next to him. Ciel didn't bother to swap pleasantries with his cousin, there were more important things to worry about.

"Have you called an ambulance?" he asked urgently.

"I did," Ciel confirmed. "I have to stay here and not move him."

Bluewer read the nametag on Sebastian's jacket and sighed heavily.

"I need to get the housemaster," he said and hurried back into the building.

This left Edward and Ciel to watch over Sebastian. Ciel kept his fingers on his pulse and began to get concerned when it became even more erratic.

Edward moved Sebastian's dark hair out the way to reveal his pale and bloodstained face. As he did so Sebastian's visible eye fluttered open briefly and locked gazes with Ciel. His mouth twitched like he was about to speak and then his eye closed slowly.

"Did you see where he fell from?" Edward questioned. "It can't have been the clock tower- he would be dead."

Ciel looked up again at the roof that corresponded with where Sebastian was lying outstretched. If he remembered his tour correctly, it was the roof over the science block. It wasn't the highest roof, as Edward had said, that was the clock tower. The thick layer of snow had prevented him from dying instantly. If the ambulance didn't arrive soon, Sebastian might pass away right in front him. He thought of how long it had taken him to get to the school and winced.

"I can't believe it's happened again," Edward muttered.

Ciel looked sharply at him. He was about to ask when he heard the faint sound of a siren. It was hard to hear due to the loud wind and the snow buffeting his ears, but he was sure he could hear something.

"It's on the road behind the school," his cousin explained. "The road loops around, it should be here in five minutes."

The prediction turned out to be correct. Sebastian's unconscious form was taken away by paramedics and a police car arrived soon after. This drew a crowd of pupils from different houses in various states of dress outside in the cold.

The students were in varied states of shock. There were three figures at the back watching the proceedings with stony faces. The younger pupils were whispering eagerly. Ciel was only able to catch fragments whilst he was waiting for the police to speak with him.

"It's happened again..."

"...said it would be him next..."

"...it was going to happen sooner rather than later..."

It appeared that Sebastian was not the first student to be found dying in the snow. Ciel made a mental note to interrogate his cousin later. Edward wasn't fond of him, but he wasn't the type to lie either.

* * *

An hour later found Ciel being half dragged to the canteen by the four house prefects. By now it was half seven and he was feeling the strain and the cold. He had given a statement to the police and to the housemaster. The canteen was mostly empty as everyone was either still outside gossiping or returned to their rooms.

The prefects led him to a table at the very back of the seating area. The prefect with long blond hair kept showering him with compliments whilst the one with heavy eyeliner stared at him silently. The other two left and came back with five steaming cups.

"Here you go, Phantomhive," Bluewer said and gave him the first cup which had a different handle to the other four cups. "You look freezing."

Ciel accepted the warm cup and wrapped his almost frozen hands around it. The contents of the cup looked to be coffee which he hated so he took a small sip to appease Bluewer and put it back down.

"You reacted quickly," the blond prefect commented. "I'm Edgar Redmond, by the way. I'm the prefect of the scarlet fox house. You can move to my house if you like. You're pretty enough."

It was hard to find a polite way to respond to those statements.

"...Thanks?" Ciel answered unsurely.

His eyes moved along to the dark haired one with a little too much eyeliner. Whoever he was, he looked like he would rather be anywhere else.

Edgar handled the introduction for him.

"He's Gregory Violet, the prefect of the violet wolf house. He hates being addressed by his first name."

That left the stoic looking one in the green striped tie. As far as Ciel remembered from the prospectus the green dorm was known as the green lion House.

"I'm Herman Greenhill" the final prefect greeted. "Aren't you going to drink your coffee? I made it especially for you. It's decaf so it won't keep you up."

When he phrased it like that it came across as creepy. Ciel pretended to gulp some down and held onto the cup so he could angle it out of view. He was beginning to feel like he shouldn't drink it.

"Are you going to be okay to sleep alone tonight?" Bluewer asked.

The thought of being too shaken to sleep hadn't occurred to Ciel yet. He was still shocked by the night's events and he needed some time alone to put everything in order.

"I would prefer to be alone," he answered. "I'm going to bed now. Goodnight."

He stood up from the table, still holding the cup and walked across the canteen until he saw the area for dirty crockery. He discreetly poured the coffee into the other dirty cups and walked out the canteen.

His suspicions about something not being quite right at Weston College had been building up and he didn't trust the four prefects. Their insistence on making him drink coffee had been odd. Tea would have been the more typical drink to offer him.

When he reached the area outside where Sebastian had landed he looked up again. Had he been imagining the figure he saw? If there had been someone up there with him it would mean that they were keeping quiet about it. Either it had been an accident or he had been pushed off.

There was also the suggestion that something similar had happened before. He would have to find Edward and ask him. In the rush to prepare to prepare for Weston College he had completely forgotten that his cousin was a pupil. As far as he remembered from awkward family gatherings, Edward was in the green lion house.

* * *

Once he had reached his room he placed his suitcase in front of the door so he could have a warning if someone opened it. Then he crossed over to Sebastian's side. He still wasn't sure what had led to Sebastian bleeding out in the snow, but he knew something was off about it.

He opened the wardrobe first and his resolve wavered because he was being stared down by three cats. He closed his eyes and opened them. The cats were definitely there, it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. The cats had lost interest in him and were now licking each other.

Ciel waited for the inevitable itchy feeling his nose and for the sneezing fit. It appeared that Sebastian was one of those people that sneaked animals into places they weren't welcome. He decided to ignore the cats and look around the wardrobe. From a brief look, all he could see were clothes and Sebastian's open suitcase that the cats were residing in.

One of the cats mewled at him and he noticed that it had damp looking fur. It suggested that the cat had been outside that day. It couldn't have found its way into the wardrobe by itself, Sebastian must have picked it up and put it there to keep it out the snow.

Due to the lack of warmth in the room the fur wouldn't dry very fast. It had snowed on and off all day, but it had been snowing when he had arrived with his father. Ciel himself had reached the room mid afternoon. That meant that Sebastian been outside, picked up the cat and taken it back to the room sometime shortly before he had been given a tour.

He closed the wardrobe. He wasn't sure what to do with the cats yet. If the worse came to the worst he could get Edward to feed them.

The next place to search was the bed. The mattress proved to be difficult to pull up and ultimately revealed nothing so he moved onto the pillowcase. His hand hit something hard and flat. He pulled it out and found a notebook.

If it had been a film, the notebook would have detailed something important that he needed. Instead it was just full of recipes and photos of cakes. The cake reminded Ciel that he had missed dinner and he sighed.

Perhaps there wasn't anything mysterious going on at Weston College and was being too paranoid. Then he turned to the most recent page to find nothing written apart from a date.

09/12/17

He committed the date to memory just in case it was useful and hesitated on replacing the notebook. If it wasn't important there wouldn't have been a need for Sebastian to hide it in his pillow so he concealed it under his own mattress.

Sebastian's desk revealed nothing of interest apart from his high grades and a polaroid of himself with another pupil. As Ciel had only seen his face in poor light, he had no real idea of what Sebastian looked like in normal conditions.

He had piercing red eyes and uncannily pale skin. His black hair was fairly long for a male. The other person in the photo was unfamiliar to Ciel. He had a much smaller frame and was the polar opposite of Sebastian.

He turned the polaroid over to check for a label and found nothing. He replaced it where he had found it. The only notable discovery apart from the cats and the notebook was the lack of a personality. There weren't any family photos. Ciel had taken a few photo frames of his family, or rather his mother had forced them on him.

With nothing else to do he prepared for bed. He repositioned his suitcase against the door again after leaving to use the bathroom. He was still feeling jumpy and the lack of a lock was not helping him feel secure.

* * *

A clattering noise very close by woke him from his sleep. He was about to reach for the light when he realised that there were people in his room that had knocked over his suitcase when they opened the door.

"Are you sure he's asleep?" a voice that sounded like Bluewer whispered.

"I checked the cup after he left; he drank enough to be in deep sleep," Greenhill hissed back.

"Hurry up!" Violet growled. "He might be unable to wake up, but we didn't drug the whole floor."

"Violet's right," Redmond drawled. "We need to find what Michaelis found and get out of here."

Ciel knew his concerns about something suspicious at been Weston College had been fully justified. The prefects had drugged him so they could search the room.

He had to find out the truth.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope everyone reading this had a good Christmas and has a happy new year.**


	3. Third Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 3:**

Ciel waited for the prefects to discover the cats in the wardrobe whilst making sure to keep his breathing even so they wouldn't realise he was awake. He was not disappointed by their reaction in the slightest.

"Bloody hell, he keeps cats in here!" the green house prefect swore.

"They're cute, can I take one?" Edgar requested eagerly. Ciel was all too happy for him to take one away.

"Can we throw them outside?" Violet enquired in a low voice. "Michaelis might never come back here."

Ciel was disconcerted by that comment and it reminded him that there was still a possibility that Sebastian wouldn't make it. He was going to have to contact the hospital in the morning and ask about him. If Sebastian died overnight he was going to have a dark murder case to solve.

"Leave them in here for the time being," Bluewer instructed. "If it comes to it, we can claim that he was on the roof to rescue a cat and slipped off."

That sounded like Bluewer knew exactly how Sebastian had come to be on that roof in the dark. Or it could mean that he wanted to cover up someone else's actions. Currently Ciel didn't know enough to decide which possibility it was.

"Shit, one of the cats is out," Greenhill said at the same moment that Ciel felt a familiar itchy feeling in his nose. "It's heading over to Phantomhive."

Ciel had never hated his cat allergy as much as he did right now. If the prefects found that he was awake what would happen to him? If they were murderers he was definitely going be silenced. He heard the cat's light paws strolling over towards his bed and then a change in weight when the cat jumped onto his bed.

His heartbeat rapidly sped up when he felt the urge to sneeze. Then a set of heavy footsteps approached and he felt the cat get picked up off the bed. The urge to sneeze went away with it much to his relief.

"I've got it," Greenhill announced. "Phantomhive might wake up if he got scratched."

The prefects spent another ten minutes searching unsuccessfully for something they kept referring to very mysteriously. Ciel spent the whole time wanting them to say what they were looking for and being worried about them noticing that he wasn't asleep.

The most dangerous point was when Bluewer, clearly the most intelligent out the four came up with the correct idea.

"So, you think someone else found it before us?"

Ciel felt the pressure of four gazes on his face and began to get very worried. The odd notebook he had found in Sebastian's pillow was now in his. If they moved the pillow out from under him, they might notice that he wasn't acting right for a sleeping person and they would find it, not that he knew why a notebook full of recipes was significant.

"Shall I search Phantomhive's belongings?" Edgar asked with a hopeful tone. "Or his bed?"

There was an annoyingly long silence before there was an answer. Ciel spent the whole time trying not to let his panic show on his face.

"No, we've spent too long here already," Bluewer decided. "We can search his items during inspections. Michaelis' belongings are a different story- if he dies they will be looked through by the Police within a few days."

That was when Ciel understood their need to make a search tonight. If Sebastian died, it would probably count as suspicious circumstances and the police would be obligated to perform some sort of investigation of the school and go through his possessions.

The four prefects took another ten minutes to leave mainly because they had to replace everything so it didn't look like a thorough search had been made. Replacing the suitcase in its defensive position by the door on their way out had given them some difficulties as well. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Ciel would have found it funny how much they struggled with it.

* * *

The night's activities caused Ciel to stay awake all night worrying that the prefects were going to return or whoever he saw in the roof was going to search the room as well. The bitterly cold temperature in the room hadn't helped either.

He gave up trying to get to sleep around nine in the morning. His craving for a cup of tea was enough to get him out of his semi warm bed and on the freezing cold walk outside to the canteen for breakfast. He made sure to hide the notebook in his coat in case the prefects used the time he was at breakfast to search the room again.

The canteen was mercifully warm and well stocked with a choice of tea. The cooked breakfasts were being served by the most unlikely looking chef Ciel had ever seen. He was broad shouldered with dirt blond hair, lots of stubble and the strangest thing of all was the extinguished cigarette clamped between his teeth that was leaking out ash. He watched nervously for any signs of the ash dropping in the baked beans.

He looked around for Edward to no avail. He should have remembered how strict Aunt Frances was about getting up early. Twenty past nine was very late by her standards. Ciel now regretted never having Edward's phone number. The two of them were not on texting terms to say the least.

However, he did have Lizzie's number and she always replied to him within seconds unless she was in a fencing match. Once he had been served a hopefully ash free cooked breakfast, he texted her to request her brother's number.

He looked around the canteen whilst waiting for a reply. The prefects were absent, there were only a few pupils around so he sat down at an empty table at the back.

Lizzie's reply was reassuringly quick and she didn't ask any questions which he was glad for. How did he word 'I want to ask your brother about a potentially dead student'?

He walked despondently out the canteen half an hour later. Edward hadn't replied so he didn't have much to do except revise. His attention was diverted by looking up at the roof. It was first time he had seen it in clear daylight.

The sound of the snow crunching behind him alerted him to a nearby presence and he turned to see a redhaired girl with oversized glasses approaching him. She couldn't be a student as Weston College only accepted male students and she was too young to be a teacher. He was also sure they didn't allow female teaching staff either.

"Are you the one that found Sebastian?" she demanded.

Had he discovered Sebastian's secret girlfriend?

"Who are you?" he asked in return.

"I'm Mey-Rin," she answered. "I live here and go to a local school. My step-brother is the chef."

Ciel's mind went back to the chain-smoking chef he had seen. There definitely wasn't any resemblance between those two.

"Are you dating Sebastian?" he questioned curiously.

Her reaction provided him with an answer before she replied. A flaming red blush spread up her face and she waved her hands vigorously.

"Not yet- I mean no!" she replied. "I just want to know if he's okay. Bardroy- my stepbrother- overheard some gossip at breakfast."

The mention of gossip caused Ciel to perk up. He might actually be able to find out what was going on at Weston College. Mey-Rin had a very obvious crush on Sebastian and should be willing to help him out.

"He was alive when the ambulance took him away. I assume that everyone would be informed if he had passed away. What did your step-brother hear?"

As she was about to answer they both heard a group of people coming out the canteen so Mey-Rin dragged him by the arm to behind a nearby tree. Whatever she had to tell him had to be sensitive enough to not say in public. It was that or she wasn't supposed to socialise with students.

"Sebastian is one of the scholarship students," she began. "Do you have a title or will inherit one?"

Ciel was beginning to see what point she was making and at the same time he realised, the tree branch above him dropped a lump of snow down the back of his shirt causing him to feel a very deep chill.

"Do scholarship students get treated differently?"

Mey-Rin nodded. "The school takes them just to boost their public image. The students themselves don't get treated differently by the staff. It's the students that treat them differently for not being titled or of noble birth."

Strangely enough Ciel didn't have much trouble believing her. He knew how snobby people with titles could be.

"Was Sebastian unpopular then?" He asked.

Mey-Rin smiled wistfully. "No, it was the opposite. He didn't really suffer from the same outright disdain and discrimination as the other scholarship pupils. He was even invited to the clubs which didn't happen before. Then it all changed at the end of last term."

Ciel sensed that he was about to find out something significant and waited for her to continue. Then his phone buzzed with a reply from Edward that provided his room number and demanded him to hurry up before he changed his mind. His snow covered shirt was also beginning to drip water down his trousers which made up his mind for him.

"Will you be around later? I have to go," he said regretfully.

It was likely that Mey-Rin and Edward would provide him with two different perspectives on the situation due to their opposing positions at Weston College.

* * *

Edward's room was in the designated green lion house area of the dormitory building which was thankfully mostly quiet. Ciel wasn't sure that someone with a blue striped tie would be welcome in the green dorm. He only encountered one student who glared at him, but let him pass.

"You're slow," Edward complained when he opened the door. "I could have changed my mind."

Ciel ignored him and stepped into his room. Both sides of the room showed signs of being inhabited. Edward's side of the room was obsessively neat whilst the other looked to be more of an organised mess with clothes and stacks of notes over the bedcover.

"My roommate hasn't come back yet," his cousin told him. "We won't get interrupted."

Ciel looked for a place to sit and Edward awkwardly offered him his desk chair before sitting on his own bed.

"..Are you dripping water?" his cousin asked, a slight note of concern in his voice.

"I stood under a snow-covered tree."

Edward nodded in understanding.

"This school is a health and safety hazard everywhere," his voice trailed off and his gaze averted to the window.

Ciel followed his gaze and noticed that his window looked directly down onto where Sebastian had landed and out onto the snow-covered fields.

"Something similar happened before didn't it?" he cut straight to the point.

Edward didn't hesitate in answering.

"A pupil died here at the end of last term. It was treated as an accident...but..."

"You're not so sure now?"

His cousin looked down at the floor.

"Something isn't right at this school and I can't ignore it anymore," he stated with the most emotion Ciel had ever witnessed from him. "Didn't you wonder about the sudden vacancy?"

Ciel realised that he really should have considered that point before. For five years running Weston College hadn't had any vacancies for a pupil his age. In retrospect, he should have wondered why one had suddenly popped up now and at such an odd time. He had filled in the slot left empty by the dead pupil.

"You're sleeping in his bed," Edward told him. "He shared the room with Sebastian."


	4. Fourth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 4:**

Weston College was turning out to not be the prestigious institution he had been led to believe it was. The prefects drugged students, he had found one dying in the snow and now he was finding out about a suspicious death.

His mind flashed back to the date in Sebastian's notebook: 09/12/17. Could it be the date of Sebastian's roommate's death? It was within the right timeframe.

"When did he die?" he asked.

Edward answered quickly.

"The 9th of December, it was the day after the play. He was found outside by a teacher in the morning and died on the way to hospital."

That explained the mysterious date.

"How did he die?" Ciel enquired.

This time Edward was more hesitant in answering.

"The walkways were covered in ice, he must have slipped on the stone steps and cracked his head on the ground. We were told it was an accident and it seemed right. This school does have its hazards, but we all know to stay away from icy areas," he paused to add something else. "And trees during when it's snowing."

Ciel understood his point. He had learnt his lesson from the chillingly wet patches of water on his shirt and trousers and it was only his second day. If this pupil had been at Weston college for four years and one term he would have known to be careful about ice.

"What was his name?"

"Joanne Harcourt," Edward told him. "He was a little shy. He was about your height but had white blond hair instead."

It appeared that he now knew who the identity of the other person in the photo with Sebastian. It did make sense that Sebastian had a photo of himself and his roommate together.

His cousin continued on without prompting.

"Sebastian was the most affected by his death. I didn't see him much before the end of term, but I encountered him yesterday morning and he completely different."

Ciel was now very glad that Edward was his cousin for once. If he hadn't talked to him he wouldn't have known anything about what was really going on at Weston college. Taking to Mey-Rin would have only got him so far.

"I said hello and he just blanked me. He was normally very sociable," Edward explained. "He was also looking around a lot like he was worried about someone watching him."

There probably had been someone watching him considering how yesterday had ended for Sebastian. It was now very obvious that Sebastian's fall had not been an accident. It wasn't yet clear how he came to be on the roof. He thought about the highly dubious prefects and internally debated about asking Edward. His cousin was a stickler for rules and authority figures so the was a chance he wouldn't believe him if he told him about the prefects drugging him.

"How much influence do the prefects really have here? They seem to be more serious than the ones at my old school."

"This is an old-fashioned boarding school so they have a lot more clout than your average school prefects," Edward said wryly. "They do inspections, have meetings with the staff, take assemblies and lead the societies."

Now was the important question. If Edward said he trusted them he couldn't ask him anymore questions in case Edward told the prefects about his curiosity at a later point.

"Do you trust them?"

Edward's answer surprised him.

"No."

"You have good judgement," Ciel complimented him. "You should hear what they did last night."

* * *

Half an hour Ciel emerged from Edward's room with slightly drier clothes and more information. If even Edward had noticed was something fishy about the prefects there was definitely something strange going on at Weston college. His cousin had been shocked to hear about their transgression in his room, but hadn't been able to provide an explanation.

Ciel had kept back the part about finding the notebook in case Edward let it slip or he genuinely was in with the prefects and was trying to gain his trust. His very short time at Weston college hadn't inspired much trust in any of the staff or students.

He returned to his room and immediately changed into his spare school uniform because whilst Edward's room had been at a comparatively balmy temperature, his room was like stepping into a freezer. There was a knock at the door once he had pulled up his trousers. He had a suspicion that it was a prefect so he hung up his coat with the hidden notebook in the wardrobe out of sight.

His actions turned out to be superfluous as the visitor was the housemaster for the blue house who was wearing a snow dusted thick coat, indicating that he had just been outside.

"I've just returned from the hospital," he explained. "I thought you would like to hear the news."

Considering that the housemaster didn't look overtly sad, he assumed that the news was going to be positive.

"Sebastian pulled through fine, mainly thanks to your quick actions," he paused. "The bad news is that he's in a coma with a traumatic brain injury."

Ciel had known that falling off the roof had caused a lot of injuries to Sebastian and that his recovery- if he survived- would be a difficult one. The possibility of him being in a coma hadn't crossed his mind.

"It's an induced coma," the housemaster continued on. "He will be fine if he wakes up after the drugs are withdrawn."

The unsaid part was obvious. Sebastian would not be fine if he didn't wake up. That would suit at least four people at Weston college.

"If he does recover, will he come back here?" he asked curiously to see if the housemaster would provide any hints about Sebastian's recent state.

The housemaster's eyes shifted tellingly towards Ciel's bed. Ciel knew exactly what he was thinking of. Sebastian had been different after his roommate's death.

"He is a scholarship student and he could transfer to a different private school," the reply was very guarded. "However, he did have a lot of friends here and if he did transfer schools, he would have to stay back to catch up on schoolwork."

The past tense when referring to Sebastian's friends didn't go unnoticed by Ciel. Mey-Rin had said that he hadn't faced the same social stigma as other scholarship students, but everything must have gone downhill after Harcourt's death.

He wondered if he could ask the housemaster about Harcourt's death. It could come off as natural considering the whispers he had overheard and the fact that he was sleeping in his bed.

"Mr. Wordsmith, I heard something about someone dying here last term. Is it a lie?"

It was the first time he had seen the housemaster panic. A dead student didn't look good for a school especially if the student had been a social outcast. It was also not the thing to tell a new student especially one that was using his room.

"Um, yes. It was an accident though," the housemaster. "The school play finished late at night and he slipped in the dark. It's nothing to worry about."

Ciel decided to attempt some manipulation. His housemaster was the weakest person he'd had contact with so far and if he took the power of the prefects into account, the housemaster should be the easiest person to worm information out of. He was also still in a panicked state which was a golden opportunity to apply pressure.

"I swear I heard someone say it wasn't an accident… Apparently he was being bullied," Ciel said in his best innocent tone along with the accompanying wide eyed look.

"Who said that- I mean, it's nonsense. If you know who it is, give me their name so I can tell them to stop spreading false information."

The reaction wasn't quite what Ciel had been looking for. He considered another angle on the situation. Wordsmith might actually believe that Harcourt's death was an accident. That would explain his denial. The prefects were the key to the mystery of Weston College rather than the teachers.

"I don't know anyone here so I can't tell you their name," Ciel replied with an innocent smile.

"That's odd," Wordsmith commented unexpectedly. "Most pupils here are related in some way or have met before. I assumed considering you are a Phantomhive, you would be related to at least one person. That's why it's hard for non titled students to make friends."

Mey-Rin had been right about the reason for the isolation of scholarship students. It was hard to break the ice with snobby pupils that were all related to each other especially if you didn't have a title. Ciel had seen snubbing before at a lot of social events.

* * *

He spent the rest of the day revising for the mock exams and reading Sebastian's recipe book in his short revision breaks. The mystery solving part of him had wanted there to be a secret code or a cipher hidden in the recipes, but he couldn't find hints of any. Aside from the date of Harcourt's death, everything else was cake and other sweet treat recipes written in an elegant cursive. The only slight anomaly in the recipes was the one for black pudding. Black pudding wasn't exactly a sweet dessert due to the fact that it was made out of pig blood.

He checked the time and finished the page he was reading so he could eat dinner at a decent time. He hadn't eaten anything the night before so he wasn't sure about the menu. Would Mey-Rin's stepbrother be there dropping cigarette ash everywhere?

Bardroy was indeed serving in the canteen when he arrived there having thankfully not encountered anyone falling from the roof. Ciel was however now covered in snow and was regretting his choice of shoes. He would have to ask his mother to send some more suitable boots.

"Fish and chips?" Bardroy asked him at the counter. "Or are you a vegetarian?"

The mention of fish and chips made Ciel remember that it was indeed a Friday. Most schools reserved chips for Fridays due to tradition. The previous night's events had caused him to lose track of the days.

"Fish and chips is fine," he said. "No mushy peas."

He didn't like them anyway and Bardroy's cigarette ash had deemed the container of mushy peas to be a suitable place to drop.

Bardroy leaned forward to pass him a plate and whispered in his ear.

"Mey-Rin says to meet her round the back at 7. No hanky panky."

Ciel flushed red with embarrassment. Did Mey-Rin's stepbrother really there was something amorous going on between them? In any case, she had a very obvious crush on Sebastian.

"Of course not," he assured him in a low voice.

Bardroy winked openly and Ciel cringed. Subtlety was not something Bardroy possessed.

* * *

Ciel peered cautiously around the corner, slightly wary that it was a trap of some sort. Much to his relief, Mey-Rin was standing there bouncing up and down to keep warm. She was a lot more bundled up than she had been when he had seen her in the morning. It made sense to wear an extra scarf because the wind speed had picked up in the past hour.

"It's me," he called out once he was closer so she wouldn't get a fright.

She let out a shriek anyway and he sighed. The step siblings did have a few things in common, an inability to be discreet was certainly one of their shared traits. The shriek had been muted by the wind, but considering the circumstances it was best to be as quiet as possible.

"Sorry," she winced. "I was beginning to worry that Bardroy had given my message to another pupil. I don't actually know your name so I just said you were short and cute."

That could have gone badly wrong. Not that he'd seen anyone around as short as him. The younger pupils would probably arrive once the mock exams were over. He would have competition then.

"For future reference I'm Ciel Phantomhive," he told her and decided to get straight to business mainly because he was freezing. "I heard about Joanne Harcourt from someone else."

It was the right thing to do. Mey-Rin got right to the point.

"Sebastian thought it was murder, not a tragic accident."

That was what he had been hoping to hear. Harcourt's death and Sebastian's near fatal accident had to have a link. If Harcourt's death was indeed a murder it would make sense that Sebastian had to be silenced.

"Did he say who was involved?" he asked probingly.

Mey-Rin readjusted her woollen mittens self-consciously and motioned for him to come closer so she could whisper in his ear.

"He said it was the secret society."


	5. Fifth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 5:**

It wasn't a surprise to hear that there was a secret society at Weston College or that there was a gathering of shady people. He hoped that Mey-Rin or Edward would tell him more about it because he hadn't been at the school long enough to get invited to shady secret societies.

"What secret society?" he asked.

Mey-Rin baulked and made a face. Ciel could guess that Sebastian hadn't told her anything else.

"He didn't tell me. There are some official societies here. There's the Sports Club run by Greenhill, the Chess Club run by Bluewer, Violet's in charge of the Art Club and Edgar leads the Drama Club."

He had never found four people that suited their clubs so much. They did sound like run of the mill school clubs though. That being said, they were probably better funded that most clubs at other schools. The drama club did spark a memory of hearing about Joanne Harcourt and the tour Bluewer had given him when he had first arrived the previous day. Harcourt's accident and eventual death had been on the night of the school play. Was there a potential connection between the two events?

"Is the Drama Club above board?" He asked.

Mey-Rin's face flushed an iridescent red which confused him. Had Sebastian been a member of the Drama Club? She only seemed to blush when Sebastian was mentioned. Or maybe the cold temperature was getting to her.

"...It is a kind of also a cover for something. I don't think it's anything to do with Joanne or Sebastian...they weren't members."

Ciel was intrigued by her evasive reaction. Even if she claimed it was nothing to do with Sebastian's 'accident', he was still curious.

"Yes?"

"This school is all boys!" she blurted out. "The Drama Club acts as a sort of dating network."

Ciel understood it then. It also explained something his father had said to him about Weston College.

"My father told me I could have a gay experience here if I wanted. I'm just not allowed to do it outside of here," he sighed. "It really makes me wonder about what he was like when he was here."

Mey-Rin nodded vigorously.

"It's like that for practically everyone here considering most of them have titles and can't do it out in the open outside of this school. I heard it was tradition."

"Are there any other societies?" He decided to change the subject in case Mey-Rin reeled off a list of Drama Club members and their partners.

"Those four are the officially recognised and most popular ones. There are some smaller ones, he could have been talking about one of those. You'll probably have better luck finding out about those than me. I only get the gossip that Bardroy overhears," Mey-Rin complained.

Ciel thanked her and turned to go. Then he thought of another question to ask her. It had been at the back of his mind since he had met her. Something didn't quite add up about Sebastian and Mey-Rin.

"How did you get to know Sebastian? I have a feeling you aren't allowed to talk to pupils."

Mey-Rin's awkward twitch confirmed his guess.

"I was trying to help a cat that was caught in a tree last spring. I was hanging on for dear life when he suddenly appeared, grabbed the cat and then helped me down from the tree. We talked after that and every time I saw a cat, I saw him as well."

Ciel raised an eyebrow. Did she not think the fact that Sebastian had saved the cat before her was significant? He did appreciate the story because it reminded him that there were four cats trapped in Sebastian's wardrobe. He hated cats, but he didn't want them to starve.

"...Can you help me with the cats in Sebastian's wardrobe? I don't know what to do with them," he requested.

Mey-Rin nodded knowingly. "I always wondered where the cats disappeared to. There's a farm across the fields and that's where a lot of the cats wander in from. I assumed they just went back there."

Before they got to Sebastian's wardrobe, they had the issue of sneaking Mey-Rin into the dorm block. It turned out to be surprisingly easy because no one was around. Ciel assumed that everyone was taking their revision very seriously.

Ciel opened the wardrobe whilst Mey-Rin stood around trying not to look like she was snooping around Sebastian's side of the room. All he saw in the wardrobe was Sebastian's clothes and an empty suitcase.

"They're gone," Ciel exclaimed in shock.

He leant in to check that they weren't behind anything. Then he checked under the bed and desk. His nose wasn't itching so the cats couldn't be in the room.

"They were definitely here," he said and thought about the most likely suspects.

Violet had wanted to remove the cats, Edgar had wanted one whilst Bluewer had said to leave them there in case they needed to use them to make Sebastian's 'accidental fall' sound plausible.

Mey-Rin double checked everything after him and came up with nothing.

"Could they have escaped?" she asked.

"They would have done it before." Ciel dismissed her suggestion.

Who could have taken them and for what purpose?

"Your room is so cold," Mey-Rin shivered and readjusted her scarf so it wound around her neck better. "Isn't there a radiator?"

Ciel knew that the radiator was going to be stone cold to touch but he checked anyway. The one under his desk was freezing as was the one under Sebastian's.

"They don't work," he explained.

"You should get some heat packs," she said. "Sebastian had some cat shaped ones that are really cute."

It was hard to resist an eye roll when he heard that detail. He thought back to his search through Sebastian's possessions. There hadn't been any heat packs let alone cat shaped ones. Either he had a hiding place that he and the prefects had been unable to find or he had been carrying them when he fell from the roof.

Anything he had been wearing was probably still being kept at the hospital. There was a chance that whatever the prefects were looking for could also be at the hospital. He had been the first one to Sebastian so no one had been able to search his pockets.

"They're not here," he told her.

"That's too bad. You should tell your housemaster about the radiators so it can be fixed," she suggested and then she blinked. "I've just remembered: there's someone else that Sebastian used to talk to. He's the gardener's son. He might know some things."

Sebastian must have been very sociable to maintain good relationships with other pupils as well siblings and children of staff members. Ciel was slightly envious of his social skills.

"You'll have to introduce me," he said and remembered how indiscreet Bardroy was. "Can I have your number?"

He exchanged contact information with Mey-Rin and as he typed in her number, he realised that he could ask someone about Weston College that had no connections to the prefects. His father would know about the societies. Weston College appeared to pride itself on traditions, the current societies were probably the same or derived from the ones that had been around in his father's time.

Aware of bad it would look for Mey-Rin if she was caught leaving alone, he walked her out the dormitory block and watched her disappear into the swirling darkness.

He returned to his room and made the decision to wear his dressing gown once he heard the wind outside and felt a chilling gust of air from the gap in the window frame. Weston College didn't have charmingly Victorian architecture, it was dilapidated and out of date. He had been surprised at how modern the bathrooms were in comparison, he'd been expecting a pull chain flush in the toilets.

He dialled the number for home and his mother picked up on the first ring as if she had been standing by the phone waiting for him to ring.

"Ciel!" She said excitedly. "I've wanted to call you all day, but Vincent wouldn't let me. He claimed if you wanted to talk, you'd call."

That did sound like something his father would decree.

"I did call to ask him something, it can wait though." He couldn't decide if he wanted to tell his mother about Sebastian falling off the roof.

"How is your roommate?" she asked eagerly. "Is he nice looking?"

Ciel sighed. He was definitely going to have to tell her now.

"I've never really met him. I found him unconscious in the snow last night and now he's in a coma."

There was a sharp gasp over the line and he waited for the interrogation. He avoided telling her that he didn't think it was an accident and stuck to lines that the prefects would have loved. If he told her the full truth she would probably drive there immediately and drag him away.

"That's so unfortunate," she commented. "I hope he wakes up soon with no side effects. I bet you're glad to have a room on your own. Is it cold?"

Ciel had been planning to cut the conversation off there and ask to speak to his father, however the mention of the temperature side-tracked him.

"It's freezing. The heating doesn't work and there's a gap in the window. Thanks for the blanket and thermals though," he said. "Can I get some boots that are suitable for the snow? My current ones aren't insulting and just sink in the snow."

"Of course," she agreed quickly. "Any food? I'll keep it secret from Vincent."

That was another tempting side-track. There was a chocolate stash in his drawer that he hadn't yet touched mainly because having a potential murder case to solve and a secret society to track did make chocolate seem less important.

"I'm fine for the moment, but you can send some anyway," he assured her. "I wanted to speak to Dad."

"Are you having fun?" was the first thing his father asked once the phone had been passed to him.

Ciel restrained himself from saying that he was freezing his balls off, had a suspicious death, and suspected attempted murder to solve.

"Sort of. I heard about the Clubs. Which ones were you a member of?"

"Why are you asking?" his father sounded suspicious. "I wasn't a member of the Drama Club if that's what you were implying."

Ciel was thankful that Meyrin had explained the other side of the Drama Club to him. He would have been confused by his father's reaction.

"No. I can't imagine you as an actor," he replied innocently.

l"I see. I was in the Chess Club and the Latin Club. They were more fun than they sounded. You're scheming enough to fit into the Chess Club and the Latin Club probably doesn't exist anymore."

The Latin Club did sound outdated and Latin wasn't known as a dead language for nothing, however Weston College was steeped in tradition so it could still be around. He personally wouldn't mind the Chess Club though. He had beaten everyone in his family and his old school.

"Are there any others you can remember? Are there any secret societies?" He probed.

He wasn't sure if his father was the right type to be invited to secret societies. He wasn't very strait laced so there was a chance. Fortunately his father did know the answer.

"There weren't any secret societies per say. There were just secret inner circles to a couple of societies. The less secret one was the inner circle of the Drama Club and the other one was in a smaller club."

That answer was helpful to Ciel. He could narrow down his search criteria and exclude the drama club.

His father continued on.

"The other secret inner circle was more unsavoury than the Drama Club one. There were lots of rumours and I wasn't invited so I can't be sure. I know the normal part of it will sound tempting to you, but I suggest you don't join."

"What club was it part of?" Ciel asked whilst attempting to hide his eagerness.

"The Pudding Club."

The recipe book he had found hidden in Sebastian's pillow took on a different meaning now. Could he have been a member of the secret society?


	6. Sixth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 6:**

"What does the Pudding Club do?" Ciel asked.

It had to be something related to Harcourt's death and Sebastian's near death. It sounded innocuous but there had to be something strange about it for Sebastian to have concealed the notebook in his pillow rather keeping it somewhere more open.

"They eat pudding," his father stated simply. "One member chooses one to eat, someone makes it for the next meeting, they eat it and they all discuss and evaluate it. Then it repeats with a different member. That's the normal part of it at least. I know that the inner sect was for something completely different and much less innocent. I wasn't aware of it though."

The normal operations of the pudding club sounded like something Ciel would actually enjoy being a part of. The recipes in the hidden notebook had to be the ones that were critically analysed at the meetings.

"I appreciate the information," Ciel said. "I have to revise now. Bye."

He put the phone down and sighed in satisfaction. He had gained a new pair of boots, the promise of future chocolate and most importantly, identification of the secret society. It was a shame his father hadn't known much about the inner sect.

Should he join the pudding club? It was wouldn't be unnatural if he did because he did like his desserts. It wasn't like his father would find out. He looked through the recipe book again and his stomach rumbled when he saw the drawings of all the puddings. Due to Sebastian's fall the previous night and his meeting with Mey-Rin he hadn't yet had a chance to sample any of the desserts in the canteen.

His mind flashed back to his tour of Weston College given by Bluewer. He had said the desserts were good. Was that referring to the pudding club rather than the actual canteen? Then again desserts and pudding weren't quite the same thing.

He considered Bluewer as a potential murder suspect. Bluewer and Edward had joined him a few minutes after he'd found Sebastian and seen the person on the roof. Had Bluewer had enough time to run down, encounter Edward who'd said he'd seen something and then discover Sebastian's unconscious body in the space of a few minutes? He hadn't seemed too out of breath.

It seemed that he would have to test the times. The other prefects had turned up later so they could have been on the roof. There was of the course, the potential that it was not the prefects, that it was someone else he hadn't come into contact with yet.

What he needed to do next is to find out who was in the pudding club. If the prefects were members, they were even more likely to be the ones on the roof.

He also needed to keep an eye on the cat situation. Their disappearance was disconcerting mostly because it meant that someone had seen him in the canteen and used that time to enter his room and remove the cats.

His heart skipped a beat when he realised that his clandestine meeting with Mey-Rin might have also been witnessed as well. Hopefully if anyone had seen it, they would have assumed it was of the romantic nature.

* * *

The bright sunlight shining through the curtains was what woke Ciel up the next morning. He peered out the window to see if it was still snowing and was cheered to find that it wasn't, although there was still a thick layer of snow on the ground.

No one had crept into his room in the middle of the night and he'd actually slept. His aim for the morning was to find Wordsmith and express an interest in clubs. If all went to plan, he would be told about the Pudding Club and Wordsmith should mention some of the members which would give him some starting points for investigation.

The plan changed when he walked into another boy emerging from the room next door. The boy had a smattering of freckles across his pale face, round glasses and a cheerful smile. He looked to be the happiest pupil Ciel had seen so far.

"You must be the new person," he said cheerfully. "I'm McMillan. I arrived earlier this morning in case you're wondering why we've never met."

His admission actually answered two of Ciel's questions. Firstly, why he'd never heard anyone next door, his room was the first one in this section so he only had one neighbour and why McMillan was so cheerful; he had no idea about Sebastian.

"I see," Ciel smiled. "Are you going to breakfast?"

McMillan grinned. "Second breakfast. I ate before I got here so it's second."

Ciel nodded approvingly. He was keen to try out the waffles he'd sighted the previous morning.

"Let's go together," he suggested.

McMillan appeared to be the last person that would be involved with the prefects and the secret society so he could be a good source of information. McMillan disappeared into his room momentarily to grab a coat and scarf and they left the building together.

"How would you rate the food here?" he asked to start off on a simple topic.

"Pretty good since Bardroy's only allowed to serve the food and clean up now. There were some food poisoning cases when he first came here to work."

That sounded very plausible to Ciel based on what he'd seen of Bardroy.

"I know what you mean. How are the desserts? I haven't tried any yet?"

The answer to this question would be interesting.

"The choice is limited," McMillan admitted. "The ones that are available are nice, but you get bored with them."

It did make sense to Ciel. If you had to eat in three times a day in the same place with a limited menu for several years straight you would eventually grow tired of the menu. That had to be the main reason for the Pudding Club to exist and flourish.

"The dessert menu hasn't changed for years," McMillan continued on. "I'm a member of a club that's devoted to pudding. That's where I get my fix."

It really was fortunate that he'd met McMillan. He really did hope that he wasn't a member of the inner circle as well. McMillan was the friendliest pupil he'd met and seemed too nice to be mixed up in anything dodgy. He reminded himself that appearances could be deceiving and busied his mind by working out how to use McMillan to his advantage.

"That sounds cool," Ciel commented. "What sort of pudding?"

"We've had apple crumble, banoffee pie, rice pudding- a real variety. Back when it used to be every member's duty to make the pudding, someone just put jelly and ice cream together. The rules tightened up after that. Sebastian is a member and he's been making the puddings for the past couple of years."

That was something that Ciel had been hoping to hear. He had been relatively sure that Sebastian had been a member because of the recipe book, but confirmation had been needed in case Sebastian had simply liked writing down pudding recipes.

They had reached the canteen by this point and they both wiped their shoes on the mat to shake off the snow. Ciel locked gazes with Bardroy and deeply hoped that Bardroy wouldn't say anything in front of McMillan. He shouldn't because he could directly contact Mey-Rin now and Bardroy wasn't needed as a middleman.

Ciel's attention was instantly diverted back to McMillan when he made an important comment.

"There was something strange about him at one of the most recent meetings. He made black pudding which was odd. It's not something you would eat after a meal, it's more of a breakfast item," McMillan told him.

The inclusion of black pudding had been strange to Ciel when he'd first gone through the notebook. Now that he knew the the recipes had actually been used, it was even more of an anomaly. Had it been to make a point?

"Where did he get the blood from?" Ciel asked.

McMillan shrugged as he picked up a plate.

"Who knows? I would prefer not to know myself."

It appeared that McMillan was the type of person that shut out things that would intrude on their desire for everything to be normal and happy. What else was he trying to avoid?

Ciel knew he was going to have to tell McMillan about Sebastian being in a coma. Taking into account that they lived next door to each other and were in the same club, his reaction would be interesting.

He waited until they were seated at a table that was comfortably warm to broach the subject.

"You probably haven't heard about Sebastian yet, he fell off the roof and now he's in a coma," he said with deliberately wide eyes.

McMillan dropped his slice of toast and his mouth dropped open.

"Really? It doesn't feel like that really could happen...even after the last accident," he murmured and perked up again. "He should be fine, it's Sebastian."

Ciel wasn't sure how to proceed. McMillan was still in denial about the true state of Weston College. He didn't want to pull him out of his false impression, but he wanted information and it wasn't healthy to pretend Weston College was a happy place to live.

"There's a low chance of him waking up," he lied. "I've heard about Harcourt's murder as well."

McMillan squirmed in his seat and looked around nervously.

"...It was an accident..." he muttered. "I know he was acting strangely before that night, but it wasn't a murder."

His new friend looked very ill at ease and looked like he wanted to run away so Ciel didn't continue the pressure and smiled widely instead. He had obtained some useful information from him anyway.

"I must have misunderstood it. There's lots of gossip here. I don't know anything about Harcourt so I wasn't sure what happened."

"Okay," McMillan said and resumed eating his toast. "I overreacted myself."

Ciel raised an eyebrow and started on his own breakfast before it could get cold. He'd probably gone overboard with the jam by most people's standards but it was just right for him. McMillan recovered his usual carefree persona once he'd finished eating and was talking nineteen to the dozen again.

"You shouldn't let Harcourt's accident put you off here. It's a beautiful building, the teachers aren't lazy, everyone's motivated, you can trust the prefects to keep order."

Ciel managed to not spit out his tea when he heard that line. It was a close call though. His theory about McMillan living in denial was right. Even Edward didn't trust the prefects.

"Sure, it's cold and in the middle of nowhere, but you'll get used to it."

"Do you have any advice on staying warm?" Ciel asked, he couldn't take much more of McMillan's delusions.

"Heat packs," was the reply. "I might have some spare that I can give to you. It's going to be a quite a wait for the designated trip to the town so you won't be able to get any yourself."

One of the reasons for Ciel being secretly glad that he'd missed the admission period for Weston College all those years ago was the most major restriction placed on the pupils. They were not allowed to leave the school grounds expect for one day every half term where they were escorted into the town by the teachers. Although it wasn't like there was much in the surrounding area to warrant being allowed off the grounds.

After they had finished McMillan offered to look for his spare heat packs and they walked back to the dorm together. Ciel awkwardly stood in the doorway of McMillan's room as the boy hurriedly searched through the mess on his side of the room. Eventually he emerged triumphantly with two fleece wrapped heat packs.

"I've found some. The best time to use them is English because that's the coldest classroom," he explained.

"Thank you," Ciel replied. "I'm going to revise now."

He opened the door to his room and found someone else in his room waiting for him. The person turned to face him and he saw it was a serious looking Bluewer.

Why was he in his room? Ciel's heart sped up. The recipe book was in his coat pocket. Surely Bluewer wasn't going to search him?

"I wanted to talk to you," the blue house prefect said. "Close the door."


	7. Seventh Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 7:**

Ciel hesitated to obey. He didn't want to be alone with Bluewer with no opportunity for escape. He didn't know what the prefect was in his room for, but based on his previous actions it wasn't exactly going to be concern for his health.

"Close it," Bluewer said shortly.

This time Ciel complied. Bluewer's stern face broke into a smile that appeared to be an attempt at a friendly smile. Instead it looked like the wolf smiling at little red riding hood.

"I wanted to have a private conversation about what has happened with Sebastian. I realised that you might be traumatised by the experience."

"...I'm fine," Ciel assured him. He still had no idea where Bluewer was going with this.

"Are you lonely at all?" the prefect continued on.

"I'm fine, thank you," Ciel repeated.

"I'm glad to hear it."

Bluewer looked ill at ease and Ciel was sure that there was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. As always, his room was very cold so it wasn't anything to do with the temperature. He had to be nervous for a different reason.

"You can tell me if you're having any trouble," Bluewer said and turned to go. "Did you hear a strange noise?"

There had been no strange noise and Ciel was sure of it. He was beginning to get an inkling of what Bluewer was trying to do.

"I didn't hear anything," he said honestly.

Bluewer approached Sebastian's wardrobe and put his ear against it. Now Ciel definitely knew what Bluewer had come to visit him for.

"I think I heard a cat in here," he announced and opened the door. "Oh no, there's cats in here."

If the situation had not been so fraught with tension Ciel would have found Bluewer's bad acting hilarious. The delivery on the last line had been very deadpan almost as if he was following a script. It was evident that Bluewer must have been the person that had taken the cats away and replaced them whilst he was in the canteen and waited so he could pretend to find them and connect it to Sebastian's fall.

"I need to tell Wordsmith," he said and rushed out the room. "Make sure they don't escape."

Ciel didn't want to go anywhere near them but he wanted to check if they were the same cats that had been in there originally. There were three cats staring up at him, two had grey fur and the other had mottled brown and white fur. He recognised them, but there was one missing. He checked in the wardrobe and the rest of the room for any other cats and came up with nothing.

Why was one cat missing?

Bluewer returned with the housemaster a few minutes later.

"There's cats in Sebastian's wardrobe," he announced and showed Wordsmith.

"Why?" Wordsmith asked wonderingly before clearing his throat in an attempt to look more authoritative. "They must be removed at once."

The housemaster held out his arms and attempted to entice the nearest cat into his arms. The cat turned its head away and licked its paw. Wordsmith flushed in embarrassment.

"Could you two help me?" he requested.

Ciel stepped back. "I'm allergic to cats. I'll sneeze over you."

Bluewer sighed and picked up the cat with a hesitant and shaky grip. His face looked like he was disgusted at touching a cat. Ciel frowned at his reaction. The blue house prefect might not actually be the person responsible for removing the cats and then replacing them. He couldn't imagine Bluewer managing to remove the four cats discreetly and quickly. Either there had been an accomplice or he hadn't known anything about it.

It took a full twenty minutes to transport the cats from Sebastian's wardrobe to Wordsmith's office. It had been a two-person job which left Ciel wondering about the original disappearance of the cats.

Bluewer didn't reveal his true colours until the removal had been completed.

"I've been thinking about this ever since we found the cats... what if Sebastian was on the roof trying to rescue a cat and slipped off..." he suggested with the appropriate mournful expression. "He always liked rescuing cats- not that I knew he was keeping them there. He could have just lost his balance and fallen."

Despite everything Ciel had to admire the ruse. There was evidence to back up the suggestion and the lie had been worded well for emotional manipulation.

"I'll pass that onto the Police," Wordsmith answered with a note of caution. "It's possible of course. It's just odd that he would know there was one up there. It's off limits to all pupils."

Ciel wondered how Bluewer would respond to that criticism. Surely, he wasn't going to suggest that Sebastian had ESP for cats? He had to give Wordsmith credit for finding a hole in the explanation as well.

"The lock doesn't work," Bluewer said dismissively. "Everyone knows about that. It's a quiet place to go. Maybe he wanted some peace to think everything over so he went there and encountered a lost cat."

Ciel caught the implicated meaning. He'd heard about Sebastian being different after Harcourt's death, Bluewer was now using it for to manipulate the investigation of Sebastian's fall.

"Perhaps," Wordsmith replied. "I'll tell that to the investigating officer and the headmaster."

"How is Sebastian by the way?" Bluewer asked. "I've been thinking about him ever since the ambulance took him away."

"Still comatose," Wordsmith answered tersely. "There's nothing to worry about for the moment."

"I hope he recovers," Bluewer said as passionately as he could manage.

* * *

"Are you settling in okay?" Wordsmith asked once Bluewer had left the office. "I'm sorry that nothing has gone right for you so far."

It was an understatement to say that nothing had gone right for him. The worst part was that he'd only been at Weston College for two and a half days.

"I'm not sure about making friends...," Ciel said with false hesitation. "...Are there any clubs I could join?"

As he had predicted Wordsmith was spurred into action and produced a leaflet detailing the clubs at Weston College. Ciel located the Pudding Club immediately and then checked for the ones that his father had been a member of. The leader of the Chess Club was Bluewer as Mey-Rin had told him and the Latin club was listed at the very end of the leaflet.

"I like the sound of the Pudding Club," he observed and read the description. It matched his father's and McMillan's description. "It looks like fun."

"It's popular," Wordsmith replied eagerly. "There's no teacher in charge of it as the four prefects are members and can lead it."

That answered something Ciel had been curious about. He hadn't been sure if the prefects were able to be in other clubs if they each ran one of their own and if the Pudding Club really had a secretive inner circle behind Harcourt's death, he'd found four of its members.

"Who else is in the club?" he asked.

"As it's not monitored by a teacher, it's hard to say. Sebastian was a member alongside Joanne Harcourt..."

It appeared that Sebastian's suspicion of the secret society had been justified. He waited for Wordsmith to provide more names.

"Derrick Arden, McMillan- he has the room next door to yours, Maurice Cole, Clayton from this house. Those are the members I'm sure of. If you want to join, give your application form to a Bluewer. I believe he handles new admissions."

Wordsmith dug out an application form for him to fill in. Ciel found it was a standard form at first and was then disconcerted to see mention of passing a test.

"Do I have to pass a test?"

"Some clubs require an audition like the drama club. Others do a test. The Pudding Club just gives you a test on pudding. I believe there's a blindfold involved and you have to guess different puddings. Are you comfortable with that?"

Ciel was reasonably confident in his pudding guessing abilities. He'd probably sampled most of the ones they would use anyway.

"That sounds doable."

"Wonderful," Wordsmith beamed. "Hand it in quickly or else you'll miss the first meeting of this term."

Ciel folded up the form neatly and realised he had no idea where to find Bluewer. It always been the Bluewer that had found him. It would be useful to know where his room was in case he needed to pay him back for the night-time excursion.

"Which room is Bluewer's?"

Wordsmith didn't find anything wrong with the question.

"It's the blue door at the very end of the corridor. If you want to find him when he's not in there, the prefects have a pavilion in the garden which isn't used at the moment and in the colder months they have a sitting room. It's two doors down from here."

Ciel thanked him for the information and left his office with the application form. He paused when he passed the prefects' sitting room. It might be worth trying to listen in, but he also didn't want to get caught. His past experiences with them didn't suggest that they would just invite him in for tea and cake if they caught him listening in. He'd probably end up like Sebastian.

He looked around the hallway to see if the coast was clear. There was no one around so he cautiously inched closer to the door. If he got caught he could say he had come to ask about the pudding club.

It appeared that his luck had finally turned as the prefects were actually in the room and were talking loud enough for him to hear.

"Do you think Phantomhive bought your acting?" Greenhill's loud voice asked.

"I wish Edgar could have done it instead of me," Bluewer complained. "I had help Wordsmith move those cats out. Edgar would have loved that."

That line indicated that Bluewer hadn't known anything about the cats disappearing and had assumed they had been there the whole time. That opened up even more questions about what really went on at Weston College.

"You had to be the one considering you're in the same house," Violet pointed out. "He would find it odd if the scarlet fox house prefect came to visit him. Anyway, you've done your acting now, stop complaining."

"I hope he joins the Drama Club," Edgar changed the subject adroitly.

Ciel's eyes widened. Did Edgar think he was good for acting or wanted him for something else? He was even more thankful to Mey-Rin for telling him about the other function of the drama club.

"Too bad. I want him for the Chess Club," Bluewer retorted. "His intelligence would be wasted in your club."

"Shouldn't you be worried that he's intelligent enough to work out what's going on here?" Violet asked.

"That is a hazard," Bluewer acknowledged.

Ciel looked around the hallway again. He really couldn't get caught listening in. At the same time, he needed to listen in because they were discussing him. It would help to know if they were booking him in for an 'accidental fall' in the future.

"I don't want another person to die," Violet answered. "The teachers are going to smell a rat if someone else dies."

"We have someone more powerful than them on our side," Greenhill interjected. "It's not really a concern."

Ciel wondered who that person could be. Someone with a high nobility status? Or just well connected?

"Our biggest danger is Sebastian Michaelis," Edgar reminded them. "If he wakes up... he will tell the Police everything he knows. That will be the end of us then."

"He'd better not wake up," Violet said darkly. "It's better for everyone if he doesn't. We need to prepare something in case he does."

"Bribery or extortion?" Edgar asked cheerfully. "I suppose you can control him if you take his cats hostage."

"Enough of that," Bluewer snapped. "Our first danger is that Phantomhive will find what Michaelis took from the club. He is not the type of person that will be bribed. That said, I have a solution for that."

Ciel waited for the reply with bated breath.

"What's that?" Edgar asked.

"Recruit him for the Pudding Club then get him into the secret inner sect. You can't leave it once you're in it," Bluewer replied. "Well, Harcourt tried and failed. Phantomhive's smart enough to realise it."


	8. Eighth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 8:**

Ciel's head was still reeling from all the veiled comments about the dangers of Pudding Club's inner sect. He almost didn't register the sound of footsteps from inside the room approaching the door. Fortunately, he had enough time to sprint down the corridor and turn the corner before the door was opened.

He didn't slow down until he reached his room. The prefects were more suspicious of him than he'd expected and he still didn't know what the inner sect of the Pudding Club was for yet. The prefects had made it sound quite dark and threatening. He'd already guessed as much from what his father had told him.

At least he'd heard confirmation that Joanne Harcourt had been a member of the inner sect. This supported Sebastian's theory that they were behind his death. He still didn't know if Sebastian had been a member though.

There was also the matter of Sebastian taking something from the actual Pudding Club or the inner sect. The recipe book was clearly Sebastian's so they had to be referring to something else.

Admittedly the whole mystery would be solved if Sebastian woke up from his coma with his memory intact and just told the police who pushed him and who he suspected of killing Harcourt. The issue with that was that his own life was hanging in the balance in the meantime and it could take a while for Sebastian to wake up, if he ever woke up at all.

Did he want to join the inner sect of the Pudding Club just for the case?

The once you join, the only way out is death aspect did not sound appealing. The inner sect members must be unaware of that fact before they joined or perhaps the benefits of being in that secret society outweighed everything else.

His mother always said that his curiosity would get him in trouble that he couldn't get out of one day. Would it be for this?

The safest avenue would be to find a member of the inner sect that wasn't a prefect and ask them what they did. Or he could wait to be invited to it and then turn it down. That was the method more fraught with danger because he probably wouldn't be able to turn it down.

He didn't know what to do and he was potentially putting his life on the line for a complete stranger.

Admittedly he'd been drawn into it anyway when the prefects had tried to drug him and they had an interest in him regardless. No matter what had happened on his first day, he would mostly be in the same position. It wasn't Sebastian's fault.

"You'd better wake up soon," he said to Sebastian's empty bed. "You owe me a lot."

His phone began to buzz in his pocket and he pulled it out to see that Lizzie had finally caved into curiosity and called him. If Sebastian hadn't fallen off the roof, he would have called her before.

"Are you friends with Edward yet?" she demanded as soon as he picked up which was what he had been expecting her to ask.

"Sort of," he replied. "It's not clear yet."

Edward had answered his questions the previous day and claimed to not trust the prefects, but Ciel preferred to remain cautious.

"It will be useful to be friends," she advised. "Everyone there might be friendly on the surface, but they might secretly want to tear your face off. It's good to have someone you can trust."

Ciel understood her completely. He had been thrown into a pack of wolves. For the moment people like McMillan seemed innocent, but he might be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"How much do you know about Weston College?" he asked.

She might know a few things that Edward wouldn't tell him. Edward adored his younger sister and would do anything for her. However, Edward did not feel the same way about him.

"I've visited a few times for Sports Day and the one Open Day they have every year. I'm glad I don't have to attend there to be honest," she said plainly. "It has an atmosphere that I don't like."

Ciel was glad to have someone outside of the school that shared the same view.

"I know," he agreed. "Do you know about Harcourt's death?"

Much to his surprise she answered in the affirmative.

"He was so cute and kind, he reminded me of you in some ways. I hate that they treat scholarship students differently just because they aren't rich or titled like them. I did wonder if that helped lead him to his death."

Ciel hadn't expected her to know who he was or to know that much about Weston College. It might be worth asking her more.

"Have you ever met my roommate, Sebastian Michaelis?" He asked curiously.

"He won most of the events every Sports Day so I know who he is. I thought the way he looked out for Joanne was adorable. I guess he wasn't able to protect him until the end."

Ciel filed that fact away for future reference. Edward had mentioned something about Sebastian escaping the bullying and that must have extended slightly to Harcourt, but not enough to save him.

"There's two secret societies here. Do you know them?" he questioned her. It would be interesting to know if Edward had actually told his sister about the Drama Club.

"The dating part of the Drama Club, right?" She guessed. "My father told me about that one. Edward wouldn't dare tell me about that. I asked him about it and he went so red.

Ciel smiled in spite of everything at the image of Edward being flustered by his sister asking about boys dating. He had forgotten that Lizzie's father had attended Weston College around the same time as his father. He might know about the inner sect in more detail than his father had.

"What about the other one?"

It took Lizzie longer to reply this time.

"I don't know if it's part of another society, but I heard from my father that it was illegal. Supposedly it's secret from the teachers and every time the prefects change, the new ones find out about it and have to keep it secret. It's another tradition there."

That sounded mostly accurate to Ciel. Tradition seemed to be absolute at Weston College. If one of the prefects rejected the secret society, he would probably end up like Harcourt.

"Do you have any idea of the illegal activities?" he asked.

"...Have you stumbled onto something dodgy? It's dangerous there."

Lizzie now sounded very concerned about his welfare and he couldn't blame her. He explained the situation to her as briefly as possible and she was horrified to hear about Sebastian's 'fall' and the prefects drugging him.

"So, you're going to end up in this secret inner sect no matter what you do? Can't you tell Vincent and get him to bring you home?"

The thought of running away had never crossed his mind. He wanted to solve everything and leaving Weston College would count as giving up.

"He would never believe me. I have get to the bottom of it. If I die, you know can tell my family what I've told you."

As he expected that did not calm her down at all.

"Ciel," she sighed. "Don't say that. Stay as safe as possible and work out what the secret society's purpose is. They'll only tell you when you're in too deep to get out."

"I know," he replied. "Edward doesn't seem to know anything. It's that or he's keeping it from me."

"I'll worm everything he knows out of him," she promised.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "Bye."

He ended the call. It had been good to discuss everything fully with someone for once. He'd kept information back from everyone he'd talked to so it was a relief to not leave anything out for once.

Lizzie was right about it being important to deduce the inner sect's purpose before he was recruited. If it was something heavily illegal and he was forced to join, there wasn't going to be an escape.

Weston College was an all-boys boarding school which did leave the options for potential illegal activities more open than an average school because no one could leave the grounds and tradition was the most important thing.

The dating part was covered by the other secret society that everyone seemed to know about. That left other options like smoking, drugs, alcohol, murder and gambling.

It could be any of those five based on the complete lack of evidence.

There was the matter of what Sebastian had taken. The handwriting in the recipe book matched the writing shown in Sebastian's schoolwork that he'd looked through so it appeared to belong to Sebastian. Therefore, Sebastian must have taken something different.

Could it be at the hospital in the pockets of what he'd been wearing? It was that or it was somewhere that he and the prefects hadn't thought of.

Due to the school term not starting until after the exams, he hadn't had a chance to explore the school properly. The tour Bluewer had given him on his first day had been his only experience of areas that weren't the canteen and the dorm.

He pulled out Sebastian's organiser from his desk drawer and located his timetable. If he'd hidden this mysterious item in a classroom it should be one that he visited regularly.

Due to them both being placed in the blue house for academic prowess, their core subjects were at the same level. The only difference in their timetables was that Sebastian had eschewed Geography in favour of Art.

Ciel himself was average in that area and held no real interest in Art. If he didn't manage to find anything anywhere else, he would have to look in the Art room.

He checked the time to decide what to do next. A good student would revise right now. The mock exams were due to start the next week and he still hadn't covered the material properly. However, if he didn't make progress in the mystery, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on them.

With that in mind he texted Mey-Rin to ask if she was free. She knew Weston College better than him and wouldn't bat too much of an eyelid if he asked for places to hide things. Edward and McMillan were options but he didn't trust them not to pass on that he had been asking questions intentionally or accidentally.

Mey-Rin didn't return his text until an hour later much to his annoyance. The delay did at least mean that he'd covered some content. She suggested meeting at her house. Ciel deeply hoped that no one would see him going in there because it would attract curiosity from more innocent Weston College pupils assuming that they were dating and suspicion from the prefects.

* * *

He kept his hood pulled over his head to hide his hair and most of his face as he followed the directions she had sent him. By now, the bright sunlight from earlier was gone and grey clouds had replaced it. When he finally found the small brick house at the back of the school building with the red door it was raining heavily and he was dripping water.

The door was opened by Bardroy with his customary cigarette hanging from his mouth. This time it was lit and he looked imposing for once.

"Mey-Rin told me to expect you," he grumbled. "Try not to drip anywhere."

He stepped aside and Ciel entered the house. At least Bardroy hadn't warned him against hanky panky this time. As it turned out, he spoke to soon.

"I don't know if you have some ulterior motive in coming here, but I do not approve of short pale school boys dating my step-sister. She likes Sebastian anyway."

Ciel raised an eyebrow and internally sighed. "I am fully aware that she likes him. I have no romantic interest in her anyway."

Bardroy shrank back. "Okay then. Her room's the first one you see at the top of the stairs."

He found Mey-Rin's bedroom with no issues. He wasted a few seconds wondering what Lizzie's reaction would be if she heard about this. He knocked on the door and it was opened by someone that certainly wasn't Mey-Rin. It was a young-looking boy with blond hair and a wide smile.

"You're as cute as Mey-Rin said you were, come in," he grinned and half dragged Ciel in. "I'm Finny in case you wondered. My father is the gardener."

Ciel remembered that Mey-Rin had mentioned the gardener's son as being someone acquainted Sebastian.

"What did you want to ask about?" Mey-Rin asked once they were all sitting together on her bed.

Ciel hadn't wanted to sit on her bed, but Finny had turned out to be much stronger than he'd looked. There was also a plate of fairy cakes resting on top of the duvet that had helped entice him to stay put.

"Is there anywhere here where something can be hidden without anyone finding it?" he asked and then remembered about the secret society. "Or is there anywhere that a group of people can meet and carry out illegal activities?"

Mey-Rin was the first to answer. "There's some places, but they aren't accessible in the winter or it wouldn't be practical to hide things there for a long period of time."

Ciel turned to Finny. He had some doubts about his intelligence, however he needed all the help he could get.

"There's that society that uses the old canteen. I walked past once and got told to stay away if I valued my life," Finny told him. "All four of the prefects were there."

Ciel knew he'd found the headquarters of the Pudding Club inner sect. Now there was a chance that he might be able to solve the mystery before he was in too deep to escape.


	9. Ninth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 9:**

"Where is the old canteen?" Ciel asked.

He did remember it being mentioned on his tour. Bluewer had said it was out of bounds and anyone caught trespassing would get worse than a detention. Based on that and what Finny had said, it had to be the right place.

He was keen to explore as soon as possible. The longer he left investigating it, the more pupils were going to return to school and it was going to be easier to get caught investigating. The Pudding Club would probably meet on a weekday rather than the weekend and he wanted to go there when it was certain that they weren't going to be meeting there.

"It's the separate building behind the humanities department. It closed down because of Bardroy," Mey-Rin explained.

All Ciel knew about Bardroy's past work incidents was the food poisoning one. That shouldn't warrant building a new canteen.

"What happened?"

Finny sighed heavily. "His flamethrower did. He always protests that he had the situation under control and the fire wasn't that bad. Apparently, it wasn't need a whole new building bad."

"I see," Ciel said doubtfully. "Why is it still there then?"

It did seem strange to keep a fire damaged building around that might collapse at any time. Then again, if the heating and plumbing had never been updated it wouldn't seem like a stretch that they would keep the old building.

"The old canteen was much bigger than the current one and had different areas. The school board are constantly discussing converting it into something else or having it demolished," Mey-Rin told him. "For a while they were planning on making into a recreational area, then someone else said it was too modern and that's why nothing's happening."

That description of the school board sounded realistic to Ciel. It explained why everything seemed to be stuck in the past.

"What parts of it remain structurally sound?" Ciel asked.

He might get a clue as to what it was actually being used for.

"The kitchen at the back is completely gone," Finny said. "The nearest seating area as well. The toilets were fine because they were on the opposite side. The cluster of sofas by the door are fine as well. That's all I can tell you."

"The fire happened two years ago so some of the building might have deteriorated afterwards," Mey-Rin added.

It did sound like the perfect place for a secret society to meet. It was out of sight, parts of it were still useable and people assumed that it was too dilapidated to enter.

"It must be freezing in there," Finny said with a shiver.

Ciel was in agreement. Either the secret society wrapped themselves up with blankets and heat packs or what they were doing was more important than the temperature.

Mey-Rin picked up a fairy cake and munched on it thoughtfully.

"What could they be doing in there?" she asked out loud.

"It's the inner sect of the Pudding Club," Ciel told her. "Did you make the cakes?"

He wasn't sure about eating cake that might have been made by Bardroy. They looked simple enough: plain cake with glacé icing and sugar strands. Cake was a low risk product for food poisoning, but he was unwilling to chance it. It would be ironic if it was Bardroy's cooking that defeated him rather than the prefects.

Finny giggled. "If Bardroy had made them, they would be charcoal."

That allayed Ciel's fears about getting food poisoning so he picked one up.

"The Pudding Club?" Mey-Rin asked. "I don't know about an inner sect, but I know that the normal one meets in the Food Tech kitchen. Bardroy told me that he offered to make some puddings for them and was rapidly turned down."

Strangely enough, Ciel could understand why they would turn down Bardroy's baking. Then he remembered that he'd had to find out about the Pudding Club from his father. Mey-Rin hadn't mentioned Sebastian being a member.

"Did you know that Sebastian is a member?"

Mey-Rin shook her head. "I only know what he told me and he never mentioned it. I would have told you otherwise."

That was interesting. It could mean several things. Sebastian might have not wanted to prolong conversations with Mey-Rin by bringing up a new subject. It could also indicate that he wasn't particularly happy with being a member and had wanted to avoid discussing it. Then again, if he'd actually been making the pudding for over a year, he had to enjoy it to some degree.

"Joanne Harcourt made him join," Finny informed them out of the blue. "He wanted protection."

Both Ciel and Mey-Rin turned to look at Finny who now had icing around his mouth and was chomping down a fairy cake.

"How did you know that?" Mey-Rin demanded. "You're not supposed to speak to pupils either."

Finny grinned widely.

"I was weeding one of the flowerbeds last spring and he came to admire the flowers. He started talking to me and mentioned that Sebastian prevented him from being bullied like the others. That's why when he joined, he wouldn't go unless Sebastian went with him."

It was the same as the information Lizzie had given him and it backed up some of Edward's information. Scholarship students weren't usually treated well, but Sebastian had been popular enough to avoid any bullying. Being with Sebastian had afforded Harcourt some protection against the bullying.

It was likely that some pupils had resented that. Ciel wondered if that was why Harcourt had been pulled into the inner circle. If Sebastian hadn't been invited, he wouldn't have been there to defend him. He was beginning to get a handle on the situation.

"I know that the secret society does something criminal, do you two have any idea what it could be?"

Their ideas would be useful because they lived on school grounds and probably saw some interesting things.

Mey-Rin and Finny exchanged looks.

"The alcohol part is taken care of by a fake ID used at the off license down the road," Mey-Rin explained. "At the moment, the older students use a fake ID to buy alcohol there and bring it back for their freinds."

"The thing is, they don't actually need the ID. The owner would sell it to them anyway," Finny sniggered. "The penny hasn't dropped yet."

The anecdote was amusing to Ciel as well. Some pupils had gone to a lot of trouble to get a fake ID when they needn't have bothered. Then he realised to be purchasing alcohol, they would have to leave the school grounds.

"Do they sneak out of school?" he asked.

Finny patted him on the shoulder. To Finny it probably seemed like a light pat, to Ciel it was a forceful slap.

"Of course they do. You see, to get to school us two officially walk down the drive and out the front gates. We don't because that takes ages so we take a shortcut at the back. Once you're through the fence, you're out onto the main road."

This made Ciel realise that it was naïve to assume that pupils would actually stay on the school grounds like they were supposed to. It was useful to know in any case. He might need a quick escape one day.

"Through the fence?" He questioned.

"Finny pulls up the fence panel so I don't have to climb over," Mey-Rin explained. "I wear a skirt in the summer and it's become a habit to just lift it up. He puts it back when we're on the other side. The ones sneaking out have to climb over the fence."

The mental image in his head didn't quite go with the skinny looking Finny, but considering how Finny had dragged him in and made him sit on the bed he could probably manage it.

"That's good to know," he commented. "Is there anything else dodgy that you two know about?"

Finny flushed red. "I-"

"He knows about the Drama Club," Mey-Rin interrupted. "What we need to do is brainstorm what rich young boys get up to in secret societies."

Ciel didn't know what to think about Mey-Rin's terminology.

"I would have said rich asshats, but Ciel's here," she added.

Ciel snorted. He probably did match her impression of a rich asshat to a degree.

Finny nodded slowly and then his face brightened up.

"They could be doing the same stuff that society that the previous prime minister was in!"

Mey-Rin gasped and Ciel blinked in surprise. He did remember something with the previous prime minster, private parts of his anatomy and a pig. It would have never crossed his mind to connect it to this secret society.

"They're sticking their um, dangly bits into pigs' heads?" Mey-Rin asked doubtfully once she had recovered the power of speech.

"Where would they get the pigs from?" Ciel questioned, deciding to not enquire about the most obvious part to ask about.

"The farm isn't that far away," Finny said. "It only takes a ten minute walk across the fields to get to. It's possible."

Ciel hesitated. Considering that he didn't have much to go on, Finny's theory was actually workable. There was a supply of pigs in a close proximity and Sebastian had made Black Pudding which usually needed pigs' blood. It was just that it was hard to avoid the gross mental image and consider it a society that would kill Harcourt and attempt to kill Sebastian to keep them quiet. He considered the once you join, you can't leave aspect. Most people would probably be too embarrassed about the sticking your willy in a pig's head part leaking out so it would be easy to keep people from leaving.

It was just that it sounded so ridiculous to believe.

"I hope it's not that," Mey-Rin shuddered.

"I can't see it as being worth killing people over," Ciel agreed. "Interesting suggestion though."

He had to give Finny some credit. It did fit a lot of the criteria for the inner sect.

* * *

Sunday passed with no major events. Ciel remained on the lookout for any prefects trying to recruit him and put off filling in his application form. He ate roast dinner with McMillan who told him about the wonders of the pudding club again.

He wondered if the prefects were taking the day off and wouldn't start recruiting him until Monday.

A piece of blue coloured paper was pushed under his door on Monday morning whilst he was revising. He picked it up carefully, half expecting it to be a summons to the prefects' sitting room. Instead it was from the office informing that he had a parcel waiting for him.

Ciel perked up. It should be the winter boots and supply of chocolate from his mother. She had picked out them out and sent them fast considering he'd only asked on Friday.

He wrapped up warm and walked over to the office. It had snowed again and he was looking forward to wearing footwear that was suitable for the weather.

His first sign that something was wrong was the room number written below his name; he hadn't known his room number until he'd arrived. The address was a typed-out label that had been stuck on which was odd because it was a lot of trouble for his mother to go to when she could have just written it by hand. He signed for the parcel nonetheless and took it up to his room.

The parcel was wrapped in plastic so he pilfered Sebastian's scissors from his desk and cut it open. He began to feel misgiving when he realised how light the parcel was considering that it was supposed to contain winter boots and chocolate.

Had someone else sent him something?

He guessed it could be Lizzie as well. Ciel cut open the tape and opened the box to look inside. He fought back the urge to throw up when he saw what was waiting for him.

He'd found the missing cat from Sebastian's wardrobe.

It certainly wasn't his mother that had sent him a dead cat's head.

The stench of blood and dead cat wafted over him and he forced himself to get a closer look. The cat's body was missing along with its whiskers. There was a note propped against the bloody mess that was the cat's head.

Ciel held his breath and reached his hand inside to pick up the note so he could read it. His hand brushed against the matted fur for a second and he tried not to puke.

The note was written in blood and asked a question.

'Does meow meow have whiskers?'

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Regarding the pig thing, some people may remember that David Cameron was accused of putting a private part of his anatomy in a dead pig's mouth back in his university days as part of an initiation for a society. Apparently it's false.**


	10. Tenth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 10:**

Ciel stared at the note in confusion. It was clearly a warning or threat of some sort. The problem was that he had no idea what it was referring to. What did 'meow meow' mean? Did it mean the cat? It certainly didn't have whiskers now.

He did recognise the mutilated cat from Sebastian's wardrobe so the sender had to be the person that had taken the cats away and replaced three of them. He had never thought that the missing cat would be returned to him like this.

That eliminated Bluewer who had known nothing about the cats being moved. Technically anyone at Weston College could be the sender. Sebastian's love of cats appeared to be a well-known thing. The bedroom doors didn't have locks so anyone could have walked in and checked the wardrobe for cats.

Ciel focused on the prefects. They had definitely known about the cats in the wardrobe. Had one of them sent him this as a warning behind the others' backs? Or was it a threat to keep him off their tail?

For the moment he couldn't tell. He closed the box again so he didn't have to see the blood smeared cat's head again. What should he do with it?

Whilst he was averse to cats due to his allergy, he wasn't happy seeing a mutilated one. He should probably bury it somewhere once he'd recovered from the sight. He'd have to ask Mey-Rin and Finny or perhaps Edward for a suitable place.

Should he tell other people about the cat? He could take it to Wordsmith. Then again Wordsmith might start asking everyone if they'd sent it to him. For the moment he wanted to keep it quiet.

He braced himself and opened up the parcel again to take a photo on his phone. He needed a photo before it decomposed too much. He hesitated on sending it to Lizzie. She was the only person that knew everything, but at the same time he didn't want to send her a gruesome image.

He kicked the box under Sebastian's bed so it was out of sight until he was ready to dispose of it. If it had been sent on behalf of the secret society, he was going to have to start investigating the old canteen as soon as possible.

It would be best to investigate at night. The risk of that was getting caught for being outside the curfew by a teacher which was most likely to be the lowest risk to his life or that if someone dangerous caught him, there really would be no witnesses around to save him.

The thought of going alone was not appealing. He wanted to go with someone he trusted implicitly because it would be an ideal chance for someone involved in the secret society to attack him.

Mey-Rin and Finny came to mind. McMillan was not an option for the most obvious reason- he idolised the prefects too much and would probably turn him in for trespassing. Edward was a last resort because whilst Lizzie could make him do it, he would whine and complain the whole time.

It had to be Mey-Rin and Finny. Their motives for helping him out were obvious. Mey-Rin had a crush on Sebastian and was willing to go quite far to find out what happened to it. Finny was her best friend and was also friendly with Sebastian.

They were the only two people that he was sure had Sebastian's interests at heart rather than Weston College.

He texted Mey-Rin to ask if she and Finny were willing to investigate the old canteen after hours. She texted back after ten minutes to ask for more details and agreed once they had a time and a meeting place.

Ciel breathed a sigh of relief once she confirmed. He hadn't wanted to end up going alone. If they did end up in trouble, Finny could get them out of it with his above average strength.

He put his phone to one side and picked up his Chemistry revision guide. He had covered most of what he was going to need for the mock exams and for the real exams in the summer. His plans for a peaceful morning of revision were interrupted by a knock on the door.

His heart thudded in his chest when he heard it. The mutilated cat parcel had made him on edge and the planned night-time excursion was making him even more nervous. The knock on the door could be friendly: McMillan, Wordsmith or Edward. It was more likely to be the opposite; a prefect wanting to get him into a certain club.

His gut feeling turned out to be correct. Bluewer walked into his room without waiting for an answer. In his hand was the Weston College societies leaflet and an application form. Ciel knew exactly what was coming.

Bluewer faltered when he saw all the revision guides and notes strewn over his desk.

"Are you busy?" He asked. "I know you have a lot to catch up on."

Ciel really wanted to say he was busy and that Bluewer should come back later, but he knew he couldn't delay it forever.

"No, I can take a break," he answered and stood up. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Bluewer gave him a small smile.

"As the blue house prefect, it's my duty to tell you about the clubs you can join."

Ciel nodded. That was clearly a lie as Wordsmith hadn't mentioned anything about that. He had only mentioned that Bluewer handled applications to the Pudding Club.

"There's the four biggest ones that each prefect runs. I run the Chess Club which I think you would be a good match for."

There had been no mention of the Pudding Club so far. Ciel wondered for a moment if he was letting his personal opinions get in the way of the other prefects' wishes.

"I am good at chess," Ciel replied modestly.

"That's good to hear," Bluewer beamed. "I've also heard that you like pudding. I also run another club called the Pudding Club with the other prefects. We eat lots of pudding and don't do much else to be honest. Are you more interested in that one?"

Ciel considered what he was about to say very carefully. It was odd that Bluewer was pushing both the Chess Club and the Pudding Club. It sounded like he wanted to give him a choice. He was unwilling to join the Pudding Club until he had found the true reason for its existence and their involvement in recent events. If all went to plan, he would find out tonight.

However, he had to make delay making a decision in the meantime.

"Can I think about it?" he requested.

"Of course," Bluewer said. "The Pudding Club is probably the better option for you to be honest. You won't have good opponents in the Chess Club. I'll leave an application form for the Pudding Club with you. I'll come by tomorrow to see what you've decided."

Bluewer left the room after recommending a few revision tips and Ciel breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been waiting for that conversation all weekend and it felt relieving to get it over with. Of course the harder part was coming. Was he really going to join the club?

The prefect had not pushed it as hard as he'd been expecting although the fact that he'd only given him a form for the Pudding Club suggested that he was forcing it on him. In all fairness, he didn't have to. On the surface the Pudding Club sounded fun and most people liked pudding.

Making the decision was going to be even harder if he didn't manage to find anything from investigating their meeting place.

He had some time because he would have join the actual club and be invited to the secret society later on. Hopefully Sebastian would wake up before then and solve the whole mystery. If he didn't, he might as well run away.

His musings were interrupted by another knock at the door. He stilled and relaxed when Edward walked in and sat on his bed without waiting for permission.

"My roommate's a slob and Lizzie won't stop telling me to tell you everything," he griped. "So, I'm her to give you answers."

Ciel made a mental note to thank Lizzie later on. It would have taken a lot of persuading to get Edward to speak of his own accord. Whilst Edward had given him his early hints, there were probably things he was keeping back.

"What do you know about the Pudding Club?" He asked.

Edward hadn't been mentioned as being a member and he couldn't remember it ever been mentioned in conversation since Edward had started Weston College. He was definitely a member of the Sports Club and the Fencing Club though, Ciel had heard enough about it from Aunt Frances at family gatherings.

"Not that much, I'm not a member. They eat pudding every meeting and appreciate it. Sebastian and Harcourt were members."

Ciel scowled irritably. If Edward had known this, he should have told him before. He had found out a day later from McMillan instead.

"You didn't tell me this before."

Edward flushed. "I forgot, I'm not in the same house as them and I'm not a member. I don't know anything about the club besides what I just told you."

Ciel stared at him analytically. Edward did seem quite argumentative. Either he was in a bad mood from being pestered to talk to him by his sister or he was holding back.

"You're protesting a lot," he said. "You know something else."

"...I've heard that there are some dodgy activities going on with the Pudding Club," Edward replied. "I didn't want to mention it because I have no evidence. It's probably right though, Harcourt was odd before his accident."

That was the second time he'd heard about that. McMillan had mentioned it as well. There was potentially a clue there.

"In what way?"

"He looked paranoid in class, he was twitchy as well," Edward explained. "I also heard him throwing up in the toilets."

Ciel knew it had to be something to do with the inner sect. His paranoia was justified considering he had ended up dead. He debated showing Edward the cat. His cousin would understand the stakes more when he saw the mutilation and might tell him more.

He retrieved the box from under Sebastian's bed and put it on Edward's lap.

"I was sent this today. If you throw up, you're cleaning it up," he instructed.

Edward looked confused, but opened the box nonetheless and his face drained of colour when he saw the cat's head.

"...W-Why?" he eventually stammered after Ciel took the box away.

"I don't know," Ciel replied. "The note doesn't exactly say 'stop investigating or this is how you'll end up' like it would in a murder mystery. It's oddly cryptic."

"You're right," his cousin agreed. "Does the wrapping have any postage marks on?"

Ciel retrieved the plastic covering and checked it over for postage marks. There was only a stamp which meant that it hadn't gone through the postal service at all. The stamp had probably only been put there so the secretary didn't think it was suspicious.

"It must have been delivered by hand," he said.

"Whoever sent it probably slipped it in the postal van when the postman comes. He always hangs around to gossip with the secretary so it would have been easy," Edward answered. "That means that the wrapping and box must have already been in the possession of the sender. What do they smell of?"

"Besides dead cat?"

Ciel sniffed the wrapping and the box dubiously. His nose itched a little, but he could smell something faint that wasn't cat. It smelt like the inside of his and Sebastian's wardrobes.

"It smells kind of mouldy," he said. "The sender must have used an old box and wrapping."

Edward gave it a sniff after him and contributed something else.

"There's something else. It smells like someone's deodorant or aftershave?" he theorised. "I've smelt it before. What do you think?"

"I'm going to have a sneezing fit if I sniff it anymore," Ciel said dryly.

* * *

As the bell in the clock tower rang twelve times, Ciel tiptoed out of the dorm building. Once he had assessed the temperature, he put on the extra scarf he had been carrying. It had snowed a few hours before and the wind speed had increased. He stepped onto the snow-covered grass so he wouldn't have to walk under the streetlights.

Once he was out of view of the windows he switched his torch on and walked quickly towards the theatre where Mey-Rin had said to meet. He spotted Mey-Rin and Finny waiting outside wrapped up in scarves.

"Ciel's here!" Finny announced excitedly.

Ciel looked around worriedly. He hadn't seen or heard anyone behind him, but the wind was making it hard to hear small noises.

"Keep it down," he ordered.

Finny pouted, but kept silent and led the way to the old canteen. The route Finny chose kept them out of plain view, but involved a lot of stepping on the grass which made Ciel worry about leaving footprints.

Soon they arrived at a small building with brickwork that matched the dorm building which suggested they had been built at the same time. The main difference was that the canteen brickwork was smoke damaged and the roof was gone. The door had a red and white saying 'No Admittance. Authorised personnel' only' and a padlock sealing it. Ciel ignored the sign and shook the padlock experimentally. The padlock sprung open immediately and he pushed the door open.

"Bardroy's so going to get fired if we get caught," Mey-Rin groaned.

"So will my Dad," Finny groaned.

Ciel was not in the mood to be sympathetic.

"Don't do anything to get caught then."

Mey-Rin took out a torch from her backpack and Finny produced one from his pocket. They stared expectantly at him and he walked into the old canteen.

His first impression was of darkness. He shone his torch around and began to make out more details. The walls were dark due to the smoke damage, the ceiling was still present and there were sofas everywhere.

"The toilets are on the right and there shouldn't be anything once you go out the doorway straight ahead," Mey-Rin explained from behind him.

"I'll go out there and look around," Finny offered. "I think we should split up so we can get out of here faster."

Finny was sharper than he had been expecting. Ciel was all too keen to get the search over with.

"Ciel can go to the toilets because he's a boy," Mey-Rin said and pushed him in that direction.

Ciel followed the suggestion and wandered off to the toilets. They weren't big so it shouldn't take too long. The tiling and the pull chains on the toilets gave the impression that they hadn't been updated for at least 30 years.

He turned on a tap to see if the water was still connected and nothing came out. He checked the cubicles and the urinals and nothing turned up. It appeared that if the secret society were using the building, they weren't using the toilets regularly. The sinks looked a little cleaner than the toilets though. He played his torch along the walls and stopped when he reached a poster high up on the wall by the door.

All he saw at first was green teeth and white lettering. He approached it to get a closer look. He jumped up with his hand outstretched and managed to pull it from the wall. A closer look revealed that the poster was of a cartoon cat with green teeth. The white lettering spelled out a very familiar phrase.

'Does meow meow have whiskers?"

He read the bottom of the poster that informed him that it was from the UK drugs helpline. Then it all clicked.

The Pudding Club was a front for drug taking.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I wasn't sure if anyone would know what meow meow is. It's a Class B drug called Mephedrone that is similar to speed. My internet history now looks very suspicious thanks to this story.**

 **The poster is also real. It's how I know that meow meow is drug slang. It was in the boys and girls toilets in sixth form.**


	11. Eleventh Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 11:**

Things were starting to fall into place. Drugs were a problem at all schools and Weston College was no exception. Instead of meeting a dealer outside of school hours like an average secondary school pupil would, they had a whole secret society devoted to drugs.

The person that sent him the cat had to have been a member. It was now obvious. He still couldn't tell if it had been a warning or a threat though.

He thought back to Edwards and McMillan's description of Harcourt's behaviour before his death. Paranoia and puking up did match the symptoms of drug taking. The secret society had led him to his death by getting him hooked on drugs. Perhaps they had killed him by letting the withdrawal symptoms get to him and he fell of his own accord. It was a possibility,

He felt genuine hate towards the Pudding Club. It was one thing to have a drugs ring, it was another thing completely to get a pupil that people had been waiting to bully into the inner sect alone and get him addicted to drugs.

Sebastian must have known enough to tell Mey-Rin that they had killed him. The black pudding he had made with blood for the Pudding Club might have been his own version of a threat to them. It must have rattled someone enough to push him off the roof.

He heard running footsteps and tensed up. Much to his relief it was only Mey-Rin rushing in to the toilets.

"There's syringes and other things everywhere. They're doing drugs here," she told him breathlessly. "I think we should leave as soon as possible. It's dangerous."

He could see that the discovery had made her realise the precarious situation they were in. Ciel was inclined to agree with her. He knew that people went to extremes to obtain drugs and protect their stash. If they were caught here, they would end up like Sebastian or worse.

"We're leaving," he said. "I'll get Finny."

The poster caught his eye again and he hastily took a photo of it and stuck it back on the wall before rushing off to retrieve Finny. The blond had found the same things as Mey-Rin and was similarly terrified. Ciel took a few photos and pocketed a syringe whilst their attention was diverted by the fear of being caught.

"I'm never going back there again," Mey-Rin vowed. "We're lucky that no one was there."

They hadn't stopped to speak until they reached Mey-Rin's house and were in the living room with the curtains closed.

"Ciel, don't make us go there again," Finny begged.

Ciel knew that if he joined the Pudding Club, he would eventually end up there sooner or later with people that weren't as friendly as Finny and Mey-Rin. He didn't know what he would do once he was in that situation.

"I won't," he promised. "All I wanted to find was a clue for what they were using it for and we know now."

"I guess we should have considered drugs before," Mey-Rin sighed. "I wish it was something smaller. It's life threatening. What do you think happened to Joanne?"

Ciel appreciated that she had calmed down enough to make the link between the club, drugs and Harcourt.

"From what I've heard, it sounds like he was brought into the drug taking part of the club which is the secret society. They wanted to get him away from Sebastian so they could bully him," he explained sadly. "I don't know what they gave him, but it affected him badly. They might have not even needed to push him down those steps, his impaired senses from taking drugs could have caused his fall."

Mey-Rin's eyes welled up and Ciel wasn't sure what to do. If Bardroy walked in now and saw her crying he would be in trouble. Then again, he'd rather face Bardroy than the secret society.

"They're evil," Finny stated plainly.

"They'll probably say it's something to do with tradition," Ciel answered truthfully. "Tradition has a strange meaning here. Scholarship students have to be treated badly because it's tradition. The secret drug taking is most likely another tradition that has to be upheld."

He thought about the prefects. Prefects were usually chosen at the start of the year at most schools. Weston College's criteria for choosing prefects was unknown. There had to have been a prefect that was against drugs at least once. It was clear that any prefect unhappy with the situation would have been forced to go along with it or lose the coveted position.

The current four prefects had shown a lot of devotion to the secret society. They had recruited Harcourt, led him to his death, attempted to kill Sebastian who was also a scholarship pupil and had drugged him. He realised that he should have seen the drugging as an early hint of drugs being involved.

He thought about the cat again. Had one of the prefects sent it to him as a hint so he could uncover the true purpose of the secret society? It was worth thinking about.

"What do you want to do now?" Mey-Rin questioned him.

"Go back to my dorm," he replied simply.

She shook her head.

"I know that. I meant, what are you going to do with what we've found out? You said that they wanted to recruit you into the secret society. I don't want you to get hooked on drugs," she said fervently.

Ciel was somewhat touched by her strong feelings about his wellbeing. Her concerns were completely correct. If he joined, there was a huge risk involved.

"Bluewer is coming around to see me tomorrow and he's kind of forcing me to join the Pudding Club. I have some time. They won't get me into the secret society immediately," he told her to reassure her.

In a way he was also reassuring himself. He never wanted to get into the drug taking part. His father had warned him a lot about drug taking and how it ruined lives.

"If you need to hide out, we'll help you," Finny promised him.

* * *

When he crept back through the dorm building to his room it was half past one in the morning. He removed the pile of clothes from under the duvet and lay down. He knew he wasn't going to get any sleep considering what he had found out.

"You really owe me," he said to Sebastian's empty bed. "Wake up soon."

He stared at the ceiling all night. Who had sent him the cat? Was it their way of doing him a favour? Could he get out of joining the Pudding Club?

There was the option of going to the police with the syringes. The problem with that was that it was a short-term resolution. The only part he had definite evidence for was the drug taking. The police would probably give an anti-drugs speech in assembly and then leave it to the school to deal with.

The inner sect wouldn't have existed for as long as it had by leaving themselves open to something like that. Presumably all the members that joined stayed because they needed to get a drugs fix themselves.

It was sad to think that everything was this way because of tradition.

His thoughts were interrupted by a phone call from Lizzie which made him realise that it was already 8 in the morning.

"Are you still all right?" she asked eagerly. "Edward told me about the cat."

He didn't know how to answer her. It was difficult to explain.

"Do you know what meow meow is?" he asked to start off on an easy part.

"Mephedrone," she answered. "When he told me, I remembered it was a drug. I looked it up and found the answer. You're in something dangerous."

She sounded oddly calm about it. He waited for a meltdown but nothing came.

"I went to their meeting last night and there were lots of syringes. I can guess what happened to Harcourt."

"Ciel, I know you are clever and want to solve everything. Can't you let the school and the police handle this?" she requested.

"There's not enough evidence. I need to find definite proof and I can only identify four members at the moment," he told her. "If I'm to bring it down, I need to know a lot more."

"You think that you can only get it by being invited into the secret society. It will be too late then," she paused. "Have you found what Sebastian took from them yet? He was probably looking for definite evidence as well."

He realised she was right. Sebastian's actions did make more sense now. He must have known enough about the secret society to know it had killed Harcourt through drugs and had tried to rattle the members with the blood filled black pudding.

"No. I should start looking now. He must have found something major for them to want to kill him," he answered. "I really need him to wake from his coma."

Sebastian was the one person who could turn the case to his advantage rather than the secret society. Without his knowledge he was stumbling around in the dark.

"If he does wake up, his memory might not be intact," she warned. "Head injuries have lots of consequences."

"You're right," he sighed. "I'm going to look around school for the mysterious item that Sebastian took. It can't be in this room; the prefects and I have both looked through everything."

"Did you check the cistern of the toilet?" she asked suddenly. "That's a place that usually gets overlooked."

Ciel had not thought of that. He had only been considering practical places to hide things. Admittedly if the object was enclosed in a water tight bag it would work. With that, it could be hidden anywhere which only widened the search parameter.

"No," he groaned. "Any other suggestions?"

He had asked Mey-Rin the two days ago, but she hadn't come up with anything.

"In the chandelier in the entryway?" She said unsurely.

"I don't think he stole an Easter egg," he commented wryly as he remembered the Easter egg from a few years ago. "The chandelier is also impossible to reach."

* * *

Ciel decided to start with Lizzie's suggestion mainly because the bathroom was the closet place and he might as well do the easiest one first. He locked the door behind him and pulled the lid off the cistern to have a look. The toilet was fairly old fashioned so he didn't need a screwdriver which was fortunate because he didn't have one.

There proved to be nothing out of the ordinary in the cistern to his disappointment. He decided to visit the library next and then the classrooms that Sebastian would have used. The search had the added benefit of getting him acquainted with the layout of the school.

The library was Victorian in style with a musty air to it. It was also annoyingly large for a search. Normally Ciel would have revelled in massive library, instead he groaned. If Sebastian had concealed something in a book there was a lot of choice.

Sebastian's known interests came to mind so he located the cat books and the pudding books. Interestingly enough there were some Victorian era recipe books and he wasted a little time reading through them. However there was nothing odd concealed in them. Fortunately for his investigation, the only part of the library that was busy was the study area and there were no prefects to be seen. He was dreading encountering Bluewer.

Next, he checked the classrooms that Sebastian was timetabled to be in during lessons. All of them were locked because the term hadn't officially started. That didn't leave him with much choice. He walked back through the entrance hall and looked up at the chandelier. It was too high up for him to look at properly. Only Lizzie would think of that as a hiding place.

He smirked at the memory and was about to continue along back to his room when Wordsmith came running past him. Wordsmith stopped in his tracks when he saw Ciel.

"The hospital just called," he told him breathlessly.

Ciel waited for more details with a nervous heart. Either Sebastian had died or he'd woken up from his coma. One signalled the mystery being solved and the other meant that he'd lost his most important lead.

"He's woken up," Wordsmith said. "I'm heading over there immediately."

The one person that could definitely help his solve the mystery was now firmly in the land of living.

* * *

 **A/N: Sebastian will be appearing in the next chapter and he will be alive as promised.**


	12. Twelfth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 12:**

"Please may I come with you?" Ciel requested politely. "I've been worrying about Sebastian a lot."

Wordsmith looked down at him and Ciel stuck out his lower lip so he looked openly worried. It was probably going to take a lot to persuade Wordsmith to take him considering that he had never properly met Sebastian. It took five seconds of manipulation for Wordsmith to relent.

"You can come with me, but if the doctor says that he wants to speak in private, you have to stay outside. Be careful about talking to Sebastian as well, he's technically never met you," he warned.

Ciel understood. He didn't know that much about head injuries and waking up from comas however, he knew that Sebastian would be disconcerted by him asking questions about the secret society considering that they had never formally met. He would have to be careful about how he asked.

On the car ride to the hospital Wordsmith started asking about his application to the Pudding Club. Ciel answered evasively before remembering that he did have a few questions that Wordsmith could answer.

"Drug taking is a problem at all schools, how does Weston College deal with it?" he enquired formally like he was part of a debate team.

Wordsmith took his gaze off the road to give him a confused look and then had to brake suddenly at the roundabout.

"That's an odd question to ask. I wasn't aware that Weston College had any drug problems amongst students," he answered after they had passed the roundabout. "I've only been working here for just over a year though."

In some ways talking to Wordsmith was just as bad as asking McMillan. Wordsmith thought everyone was well behaved and trusted everyone whereas McMillan was more in denial that everything was all right. He moved onto another area.

"How do you discipline pupils? It's not in the handbook."

Wordsmith nodded approvingly.

"That's a good question. There has never actually been a student expelled in the history of Weston College."

Ciel was momentarily surprised by that fact until he remembered the types of pupils attending. Most people's parents were rich or influential enough to ensure their children wouldn't get kicked out.

"No one gets caned either. Punishments are left up to the prefects and housemaster. I haven't had to punish anyone yet," Wordsmith admitted. "I threatened a student with cleaning the toilets using a toothbrush once last year though."

That probably hadn't gone down well with whoever it was. His mind flashed back to something Bluewer had said the old canteen. 'Anyone caught gets worse than a detention'. It likely meant anyone they caught would end up like Sebastian which was interesting because Sebastian hadn't been pushed off the roof at the time.

"What happened after that?"

His housemaster smiled ruefully. "He complained to his parents who in turn complained to the head master who told me off. Fortunately, no one seems to break the rules so I haven't had to make another decision like that."

Strangely enough Ciel could think of a lot of rule breaking that was going on at Weston College under his nose. Even he had broken the rules by going out of curfew and entering a restricted area. If that had escaped Wordsmith's notice, it had to have been easy for the secret society to sneak out and take drugs.

Wordsmith pulled into the hospital and the next ten minutes were occupied by trying to find a parking space. After that he followed Wordsmith into the main building and to the Critical Care ward.

His housemaster announced who he was and who he came to see and was buzzed in. Ciel appreciated the security measure as it meant that he was safe from the secret society. Then he realised that if it had been easy for him to pressure Wordsmith to let him come with him, someone like Bluewer would have an even easier time.

The doctor in charge of Sebastian came to meet them and was puzzled by the sight of Ciel.

"This is Sebastian's roommate and the one that found him," Wordsmith explained. "Is there anything you can't discuss in front of him?"

"There's just some medical details and one important issue about the patient," the doctor paused. "He didn't wake up unaffected: he has amnesia."

When he heard that Ciel felt that his salvation had slipped from his grasp. He needed Sebastian to tell him what he'd found out. Without him, he might as well join the Pudding Club and tell anyone recruiting him for the inner sect to go away and hope he would survive until the end of the school year.

"How bad is it?" Wordsmith asked worriedly.

"He's missing the last year from what we can gauge. You might get more hints from him and I want to see if he recognises you and his roommate."

Ciel swallowed. Sebastian was going to be confused because if he was missing a year of memories, he would think that Joanne Harcourt was still alive and sharing a room with him. He didn't want to be the one to tell him that Harcourt was dead.

"Is he doing okay aside from the amnesia?" Wordsmith moved the focus of the conversation.

"His appetite is off, other than that and the broken limbs, he's fine to have short visits. Please do not distress him," the doctor requested. "He's seems to be taking it in his stride, but be careful."

Ciel followed Wordsmith into the ward and immediately locked gazes with a familiar pair of eyes. Sebastian was sitting up in bed staring right at him and then his eyes averted to Wordsmith. Ciel looked at him curiously. He hadn't been paying attention to Sebastian's appearance when he'd been bleeding out and had only seen a photo of him since.

His head was covered in white bandages with a hint of black hair poking out. His skin was a unhealthily translucent white, but his red eyes were focused and analytical.

"Hello," he greeted and Ciel found himself being subjected to a piercing gaze again. He looked straight back and Sebastian looked away again.

"I'm glad you've woken up. Is it okay for us to sit down and talk?" Wordsmith questioned cautiously.

"You may," Sebastian said. "You can sit down."

Ciel dragged out the chair that was by Sebastian's headboard and as he did so, he noticed that there was a phone charging on top of the bedside cabinet. It had to be Sebastian's phone. Perhaps he hadn't changed the passcode in the past year he had missing memories and was looking through the phone. He checked the phone again and recognised it as a recent release meaning that it should be new to Sebastian.

"I take it that you've heard about my amnesia," Sebastian asked, distracting him from his observations.

Wordsmith itched the back of his neck nervously. "Yes. It's very unfortunate."

Sebastian nodded and his eyes moved to Ciel again.

"Who is with you?"

Wordsmith faltered. "...He found you and called the ambulance. If hadn't you might not be alive."

Sebastian smiled dazzlingly at Ciel and he blinked in surprise.

"Thank you," he said. "I haven't seen you at school before, do we know each other?"

Ciel didn't know how to answer that. The truth was that he was a replacement for his probably murdered roommate. That wasn't a suitable thing to say to an amnesiac patient who had only recently woken up.

"He's fairly new," Wordsmith explained.

"I see. It's nice to meet you, Ciel," Sebastian smiled again.

Ciel was confused about Sebastian's knowledge of his name and then realised that his name badge was visible.

"...is Joanne going to visit me anytime?" Sebastian asked hesitantly.

There was an odd look in his eyes and disappeared as quickly as it came. Ciel narrowed his eyes. There was something not quite right about Sebastian besides the head injury.

Wordsmith became even more nervous and ill at ease.

"Joanne isn't your roommate anymore, Ciel is."

Sebastian nodded and Ciel guessed he was thinking of how scholarship pupils were treated.

"I guess I'll have to speak to him at another time," he said with a shrug. "How long have we been roommates for?"

Now it as Ciel's turn to feel guilty for telling the truth.

"I arrived on the day you fell off the roof, we never even met."

Sebastian stared at him oddly. "Is that so?"

"It's sounds odd, but this is the first time I've properly met you," Ciel admitted. "I've heard about you from other people though."

The amnesiac smiled coldly and Ciel blinked. Now it was a normal smile.

"What did they say about me?"

"Mey-Rin and Finny like you. My cousin told me you always win everything on Sports Day and McMillan told me you cook well."

"I do," Sebastian replied with no attempt at modesty. "How did you get to know Mey-Rin and Finny?"

Ciel was about to explain that she had been concerned about him and asked after him when he remembered that Wordsmith was sitting next to him. It was obvious that those two weren't supposed to fraternise with Weston College pupils.

His housemaster caught his cautious glance and waved his hand.

"I won't say anything."

Ciel nodded gratefully and explained how they met. Naturally it was an abridged version that didn't mention the secret society or Harcourt.

"It's nice to know that some people are concerned about my wellbeing," Sebastian commented mysteriously.

It was an odd comment to make so Ciel looked at him curiously and Sebastian stared back. It was possible that he was referring to being out of place as a scholarship student, but he had been told by several people that Sebastian had been popular. Wordsmith interpreted it differently.

"I'm sorry about not being able to get in contact with your parents," he said. "The contact number they left doesn't seem to be right."

Sebastian caught Ciel's questioning glance.

"My parents work aboard, but insisted on me going to a British school so I ended up at Weston College because it's a boarding school."

That explained a few things Ciel had been curious about. The fact that Wordsmith was visiting him in the hospital and was getting updates from the doctor had made him wonder about Sebastian's parentage.

Wordsmith's phone began to vibrate in his pocket and his eyes went wide when he checked the caller ID.

"It's the headmaster," he told them. "I'm going outside to take this call."

His departure left Ciel alone with Sebastian. Ciel felt uncomfortable in the amnesiac's presence. Mainly because he couldn't demand answers from someone who had recently woken up from a coma and couldn't remember anything and because Sebastian was a lot more intimidating than he had imagined. He didn't come across as a soppy cat lover like Ciel had been expecting.

Instead he was quiet and analytical and his answers to questions had had a hint of annoyance to them. His manner when he had asked about Harcourt had been strange as well. Ciel's eyes fell on Sebastian's phone again. If he put everything together there was one solution. It was an outlandish solution, but as Sherlock Holmes had said 'when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'.

"Sebastian," he said.

Sebastian looked towards him with a blank face. Ciel pushed forward with his theory. It had to be right.

"Wordsmith's gone so you can stop pretending to have amnesia," he informed him and watched for the reaction.

Sebastian's blank expression became a wide smirk and he raised his eyebrows.

"How did you work it out?"


	13. Thirteenth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 13:**

Ciel was disconcerted by the evilness of the smirk yet reassured at the same time. An amnesiac Sebastian was no use to him whereas normal Sebastian would be a wealth of information. The only danger was that Wordsmith might come back too soon or that Sebastian would withhold information because they didn't know each other.

"Your attitude is odd for someone that had no idea about his previous roommate's death, there's your phone as well," Ciel explained.

Sebastian disconnected his phone from the charger with difficulty due to the cast on his arm and unlocked it.

"The truth is, I have no memories of the day I fell off the roof. I do not remember a thing," he confessed. "I'm technically telling the truth about having amnesia. I'm just lying about the timeframe."

Ciel was disappointed to a degree about him not remembering the most important part, but knew there was still a plethora of blanks that Sebastian could fill in.

"I found a text on my phone from an unknown number when I unlocked it earlier," he turned it round so Ciel could see.

'Come to the roof at 6:00pm. I'll tell you everything.'

It explained why Sebastian had been on the roof at the time. It was a shame it had been sent from an unknown number.

"Why are you faking more severe amnesia than you really have?" Ciel asked.

"So no one tries to kill me," Sebastian said like it was obvious answer. "If one of the prefects comes, I'm quite defenceless in this state. If they think I don't know anything, they should leave me alone for a while."

Ciel understood that sentiment well. The conversation he had overheard outside the prefects' sitting room had indicated that Sebastian was in danger if he survived the coma. Sebastian knew precisely what he was dealing with.

"You don't look surprised," Sebastian commented suddenly. "You must know a lot. Ah, Mey-Rin told you about what I said."

"I know about the drugs," Ciel said. "I overheard them saying they want me to join. I don't know what I can do."

Sebastian levelled him with a cool glance.

"That is an issue for both of us. We should work together," he suggested calmly.

That suited Ciel. He debated about showing Sebastian the cat and then decided that he wasn't really a fragile amnesiac cat lover so he could cope with it.

"I got sent this in the post," he said and pulled up the photo on his phone.

It was first time that Ciel had witnessed Sebastian lose his cool. His mouth dropped open and he winced.

"How could someone do that to her?" he sighed deeply. "We're working together for certain now. You must solve this before any more cats get mauled. I'm giving you my number. You'd better reply to my texts."

It was odd to see such passion from Sebastian. He took back his revaluation of Sebastian as a not being a soppy cat lover.

"Do you have any idea who sent it? Or if it's a warning or threat?"

Sebastian paused and his smirk returned.

"I have an idea who it was. I can guess that it's revenge and a warning mixed together. Someone in the secret society has a conscience."

Ciel was about to demand what he meant when he saw Wordsmith walk into the ward. Sebastian dropped his phone under the duvet and Ciel took his own back.

"Are you getting along well?" he asked cheerfully. "You two look like you are."

Ciel glanced at Sebastian who smiled at him.

"Can he visit me more?" he requested. "I'm going to be here for a while."

It was interesting to see that even Sebastian was an emotional manipulator. When everything was resolved, he would have to tell Wordsmith to stop falling for lies easily.

"I'll see what I can do," Wordsmith assured him. "Please don't be disappointed if he can't, pupils aren't supposed to leave the grounds."

The supposed amnesiac pouted mournfully and Ciel stifled a smirk. A pout looked out of place on his face.

"Is it okay if I tell the prefects about your amnesia?" the housemaster asked. "Bluewer has been concerned about you. If you want to keep the amnesia quiet, I will not say anything."

Ciel ended up watching more quality acting from Sebastian. The supposed amnesiac averted his eyes and looked sad before answering.

"I don't really want everyone to know. Can you just tell Bluewer? He's the prefect I know the best."

The merits to that request was obvious to Ciel. Letting everyone know about his amnesia so easily would come off suspicious to the prefects and they might want to investigate. By only wanting to tell a specific one, it looked more genuine. Of course, Bluewer would tell the other prefects. He had to hand it to Sebastian, his acting was a lot better than the act Bluewer had put on the other day.

"Of course. Is there anything you want me to bring from your room?" Wordsmith enquired. "Your textbooks won't make any sense to you and you won't be able to do the mock exams anyway."

"I'll take a look at them anyway," the patient said. "I wouldn't mind my own pyjamas as well."

"I'll bring them as soon as I can. Ciel, we've got to go now," Wordsmith told him regretfully. "We weren't supposed to stay for too long. Hopefully you can see each other again soon."

They both got up and said good bye. Ciel looked back as he was following Wordsmith out of the ward and saw Sebastian wink and point at his phone. Ciel interpreted that as an invitation to call him.

* * *

It was only when Ciel reached his room did he remember that Bluewer was coming to visit to get his application form. He still didn't know if he wanted to risk joining the Pudding Club. The only person that would know the answer to that was Sebastian and he had been given permission to call him.

He went across the corridor to the bathroom and locked the door. This was the only place where Bluewer wouldn't be able to follow him. In fact, it was the only room with a lock on the inside.

He dialled Sebastian's number and waited for him to pick up. He finally picked up on the last ring.

"I had to get rid of the nurse," Sebastian explained the delay. "I wasn't expecting a call so fast. You must like me."

His voice went silky on the last line and Ciel rolled his eyes. He didn't have time to work out if Sebastian was flirting.

"No, I need an answer from you fast before Bluewer comes to find me."

"I'm all ears."

"I'm being forced to join the Pudding Club and I know they want me in the secret society because there's a chance that I might stumble on their secret which I already have. What should I do?"

"The club doesn't start having meetings until the term officially starts, you have to be initiated and I'm not there to bake so that will delay it. I say you can join. They won't try to get you into the inner part until the second meeting at the very minimum," Sebastian told him. "By the time that comes, we should have resolved everything."

That sounded like a lot of assumptions to Ciel, but Sebastian had been attending Weston College for a lot longer than him and seemed to know the Pudding Club well. He would have to take his advice. It wasn't like he had any other choice.

"What should I do if you're wrong and I end up in the old canteen tonight?"

It was a very necessary question. There was a long pause before Sebastian answered.

"Get Mey-Rin and Finny to help, they know the quick route off here. There's a bus stop nearby," he said. "You could get your other cousin to help you; the female one. She's powerful enough to save you."

Normally Ciel would have agreed immediately, but he was more distracted by Sebastian knowing about Lizzie.

"How do you know my cousin?"

Admittedly Lizzie had said she went to Sports Days and Open Days and knew who Sebastian was, but that didn't properly explain it.

"Edward likes to talk about you," was the mysterious answer.

"You mean complain about me," Ciel corrected knowingly. He knew his cousins very well.

"That's more like it," Sebastian laughed and then turned serious. "If they get you there that quickly, there isn't much way out. Your best bet is to stand your ground and then hide out at Mey-Rin's until your parents can pick you up."

Ciel couldn't imagine his father being happy about that. Then again, his father had advised against joining the Pudding Club because of the dangerous part. He might be open to letting him leave if he explained everything.

"Thank you for the advice," he said honestly. "...What happened to Joanne Harcourt?"

The silence that followed was so long that Ciel wasn't sure if he'd lost the signal.

"He was invited to an inner part of the Pudding Club that was very secretive and invitation only," Sebastian began simply. "I wasn't invited myself and he was excited about finally being accepted by the popular pupils like the prefects. He went to one of the meetings perfectly healthy and came back behaving strangely."

It was easy to work out what had happened at the meeting. Harcourt had encountered the most lethal tradition at Weston College. He'd gone expecting to be accepted and was led to his death instead.

"He wouldn't tell me anything about it, he said that it was a secret that he had to keep. I asked every time he came back and he still refused to tell me. As time went by he looked worse and came back even later every time. I wasn't able to intervene because I didn't know what was going on. I noticed needle marks on his arm and that's when I knew for certain that it was drugs."

Ciel felt sad about what had happened to Harcourt and remembered that it could happen to him as well. Admittedly he wasn't an unpopular scholarship student and they were only interested in him because he might know too much, but it was still dangerous.

"When did this happen?"

"I worked it out in December last year, two months after he joined. I confronted him and he confessed everything. He was peer pressured into weed on the first meeting, then blackmailed with a video of him taking it and emotionally blackmailed by saying that he would rock the boat if he reported it or even told anyone else. There were quite a variety of drugs at those gatherings to say the least. He told me everyone who was in the secret society and made me swear not to do anything. Three days later, he was dead."

It was one thing to guess how Harcourt had been forced into drug taking, it was another thing to hear it.

"Do you think it was murder?" Ciel asked plainly.

"He was dependant on those meetings to supply him with his fixes. Due to the school play, there wasn't a meeting on the night he died. Either he was pushed or his withdrawal symptoms led to an accident. Either way they murdered him."

Ciel wondered if the scheduling had been deliberate.

"What did you do to become their next target?"

"I did some investigating, looked around the old canteen and asked questions. I didn't get far with just that so I picked the lock on Bluewer's door and took something."

Ciel was about to ask what had been taken when he heard a set of footsteps stop nearby. It was most likely to be Bluewer coming to collect his application form. Hearing about Harcourt had made him even more unwilling to join the club, but he also wanted to solve the mystery. He held his breath as he listened to someone knock on his bedroom door and walk in and then walk out.

His blood ran cold when he heard a knock at the bathroom door.

"Ciel? Are you in there?"

It was Bluewer.

Ciel swallowed nervously and opened the door. The time to make his decision had come.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope no one minds the very minor amnesia.**


	14. Fourteenth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 14:**

It took a mere two minutes for him to be accepted into the Pudding Club. Bluewer led him back to his room where he located the blank form. Ciel hastily filled the form in and handed it to Bluewer who took a brief look at it and stamped it.

"Welcome to the club. I'll start arranging your initiation ceremony as soon as possible," Bluewer promised him.

"When will that be?"

Sebastian's prediction had to be right or else Ciel was going to have some strong words with him.

"Next Wednesday," was the answer.

That agreed with Ciel's needs. He had a week and a day to solve everything. Maybe the Pudding Club would have ceased to exist by that time.

"Did you catch all of that?" he asked Sebastian once Bluewer had left and he'd heard him go down the corridor. There had been no time to end the phone call so he'd just left it connected.

"You are in demand. I'm jealous," Sebastian commented. "Luckily you have some time before then to find certain things."

Ciel ignored the first part. The second part reminded him that he had been going to ask Sebastian about what he had taken before Bluewer had interrupted.

"The prefects drugged me on my first night in order to search for something that you took. What is that?"

The answer was not helpful.

"It's useless without the other three parts. Everything to do with the secret society has been split into four parts to ensure that one prefect can't have a change of heart and give evidence about the drug taking. Tradition is powerful. I took Bluewer's part because it was the easiest to obtain."

The caution taken by the secret society was understandable. He had wondered before about how the secret society had survived for so long and through a new set of prefects every year. It had been carefully planned to eliminate the possibility of any of them stepping out of line.

"Bluewer had a ledger of the drugs used and their classes. It was half a page so one of them must have other information connected to it like the source or dates," the supposed amnesiac continued. "I don't know what the other three have. I was planning an excursion to the other two's rooms, but I obviously didn't get to it before I had an 'accident'. Can you pick a lock?"

Ciel didn't like where the conversation was going. If he was caught, he was definitely going to have an 'accident' and he might not be as lucky as Sebastian was. It was unlikely that they would choose the same method again. If he had to search all three prefects' private bedrooms, that was three opportunities to get caught.

Then he noticed something about Sebastian's previous statement. He had one quarter of evidence, yet he had only mentioned planning two other excursions.

"I can pick a lock, but I have something to ask you. Which other prefect's bedroom have you broken into?"

Sebastian coughed awkwardly.

"As a matter of fact, I broke into someone's for a different purpose right after Joanne's death. I hadn't started properly investigating yet. I went in for something specific and immediately left."

Ciel wondered why Sebastian was being so mysterious about his visit to an unknown prefect's private room. Which one could it be? However, there were more pressing questions to ask.

"Where did you hide the ledger? If you hid it in our room, they can't have found it."

Sebastian's reply was frustrating.

"I did hide it in our room. They just missed it because it's a good hiding place. Can you check if it's still there?"

Ciel had searched around Sebastian's side with no results. He couldn't have missed it and he'd searched his own side as well. Sebastian was acting like it was obvious.

"Where did you hide it?" he asked with gritted teeth. He wasn't in the mood for any snarky comments from Sebastian.

Fortunately for his frustrated mood, Sebastian didn't tease him and just answered simply.

"Down the radiator under my desk. That's why it's been disabled. I adjusted yours as well so it wouldn't seem out of place."

"You're the reason why this room is so cold," Ciel sighed in exasperation before crawling under the desk to check.

The clues had been there the whole time. The room was oddly cold. Edward's room had been much warmer compared to his and Mey-Rin had said that he should tell maintenance about the broken radiator. He should have wondered about it more, he had just attributed it to Weston College having old architecture. He switched on the torch on his phone to look down the back of the radiator. There was a slim plastic wallet sellotaped in place. He could make out a list of drugs through the blue plastic. There was quite a range.

"In my defence I didn't know that I was getting a roommate until the day before," Sebastian said apologetically.. "Sorry about the cold temperature."

"It's still here," Ciel announced.

"Of course it is. You need to find the other three parts before we have a good chance at destroying them."

Ciel groaned at the thought of sneaking into three prefects' bedrooms. They were definitely going to be on high alert once he got hold of one piece of evidence. The only one that was going to be slightly easier was Greenhill as Edward was in the same dorm and could help him out, directly or indirectly.

"What have you done with the cat?" Sebastian changed the subject adroitly.

The cat's head was still in the parcel under Sebastian's bed. In the rush of finding out everything, he hadn't had a chance to bury it discreetly.

"I'm planning its burial," he said hastily. "Can you tell me who sent it so I can know which prefect might be slightly on my side?"

There was a short period of silence.

"No. If I reveal that, I have to reveal something that I did."

"Sebastian..." Ciel sighed. "Tell me-"

He was cut off by Sebastian ending the call. What had happened between Sebastian and the prefect?

There was another knock at the door and he breathed a sigh of relief when he recognised the knock. It was only Edward. A second later his cousin strode in with a triumphant look on his face.

"I know who sent the parcel or at least, who the box and wrapping belong to," he informed him.

The visit to Sebastian had caused Ciel to forget that Edward had offered to help out with the mutilated cat issue. He hadn't been expecting much anyway so it was a happy surprise.

"Who is it?"

Edward leaned forward secretively and Ciel couldn't blame him for not feeling comfortable discussing something important as this too loudly.

"Gregory Violet."

Whilst Ciel had no idea who the parcel was from, he hadn't been expecting that name. Then again it did make sense. He was a prefect, had known about the cats in the wardrobe and wasn't Bluewer. He met the criteria.

"How do you know it's his box?" he asked curiously.

"He's well known for burning incense sticks in his room and smells of it himself. I was trying to remember where I smelt it before and thought of incense because it doesn't smell quite like aftershave and deodrant. Do you think he's the one that sent it?"

"Probably. I just don't know why."

Sebastian had said the sender had a conscience and wanted revenge against him at the same time. What had Sebastian taken from his room?

"Do you know if he does anything else strange in his room?"

Edward wasn't in the purple house so it was a difficult question to ask. However, Edward was his only real school connection that he could use. Sebastian was clearly not going to tell him.

"Ciel, he's infamous for being weird. What kind of thing are you thinking about?"

He couldn't disagree with that.

"Does he keep anything odd in his room that has gone missing recently?"

Edward pulled a face.

"I haven't exactly been in there... actually, I did hear that he went around the purple dorm looking for a rabbit last month. In September when the first term started, one of the year 7s said that he saw him playing with a rabbit in the fields once and another said he saw a rabbit cage in his room. Nobody believed them because no one takes Year 7s seriously, but they could be telling the truth."

Something flashed through Ciel's mind and he made a connection between the facts. Violet used to have a rabbit that he kept in his room, Sebastian had taken something from a prefect's room and black pudding had been served at the pudding club before the end of the term after Harcourt's death. Additionally, Sebastian had been very unwilling to tell him what he took.

It all added up to one thing.

Sebastian had used Violet's rabbit to make black pudding.

It explained why the cat had been mutilated needlessly. It was Violet's way of giving him a warning and getting Sebastian back at the same time.

Ciel was revolted by both of them.

Admittedly Sebastian hadn't got anyone hooked on drugs and led them to their death, but it was still an odd thing to do. In the very least, he solved the minor mystery of where Sebastian had got the blood to make the black pudding from.

"No, those year 7s were telling the truth," he said with a shudder. "It's definitely Violet that sent the cat."

"What are you going to do now?" Edward asked, nervousness evident on his face. "You can't go against the prefects."

Ciel laid a hand on Edward's shoulder. His cousin was proving to be more useful than he'd ever imagined.

"Can you break into Greenhill's bedroom for me?" He requested with his best non- evil smile.

Edward knocked his hand off his shoulder.

"What? Even if I had the guts to I couldn't sneak in anyway, he keeps the door locked."

"So you have tried."

His cousin flushed red and Ciel knew he'd hit on something.

"It was a dare. My roommate said he'd tidy up if I had the balls to get into Greenhill's room and bring back proof. I obviously failed and that's why his side of the room is a mess."

"I can teach you how to pick a lock, would you do it then?"

"No! I'm not risking getting caught," the blond protested.

Ciel knew he would have to pull out the strongest persuasion tool in his arsenal to get Edward to help him.

"I'll tell Lizzie you are being uncooperative."

It took Edward five seconds to crack.

"Fine. I'll get you into the dorm unnoticed, but you have to break in by yourself and I don't know anything about it you get caught."

He held out his hand and Ciel shook it.

* * *

Once Edward had left Ciel sent a text with a rabbit emoticon to Sebastian. It would be sufficient to let Sebastian know he was aware of the theft and murder. Sebastian's reply was a sad face and a cat emoticon. When he received this, Ciel rolled his eyes. Neither of the two were in the right for their animal murders.

He checked the time and decided it would be a good idea to visit the library again, this time for something different. His aim was to look into the history of Weston College. The secret society's luring in and subsequent blackmail of Harcourt had made him wonder if it was an actual tradition and he wanted to check if there had been any other deaths at Weston College.

Wordsmith had been appointed fairly recently so he hadn't been any help so he was going to have to find out the information himself.

His search started in the history section where he picked out two prospective books and he took a detour to find a book about drugs. It would be interesting to see who had taken out those books. He hit a stumbling block when he located the right section to find Violet standing there reading a book.

Ciel took a step back and Violet turned around to look at him. Ciel wasn't sure what to say. Violet wasn't his biggest threat but he wasn't innocent either.

"Seeing as you're here, you must have worked it out," Violet said. "Well done and be careful. I'll keep my door unlocked for a week to help you."

He dropped the book he had been reading into Ciel's arms and walked away. Ciel stared after him and then at the book which was on illegal drugs.

It appeared that there was a prefect who was on his side.

* * *

 **A/N: In case anyone has forgotten from when it was mentioned in another chapter; black pudding is made from blood. It's like a sausage.**


	15. Fifteenth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 15:**

Was it a coincidence that he had met Violet in the library or had the prefect been keeping a close eye on him? Violet had to have been observing him to have known when to take the cats and bring them back without being caught.

The mention of keeping his door unlocked had also allowed Ciel to realise that Violet had predicted his future actions. Whilst it did make things easier for him, it did suggest that the other prefects could be thinking along the same lines.

What he really needed to do was overhear another top-secret conversation, however he was lucky the last time for two reasons. One, that they were actually talking about him and two, he didn't get caught.

He couldn't risk it a second time.

Ciel put that matter aside sat down at a table with the books. He started with the books about the school's history as he only knew basic facts about the school. The oldest one smelt extremely mouldy and was falling apart and he didn't get much from it. The Pudding Club was mentioned and the description wasn't different from what McMillan had told him. He moved onto the one that had been published in the sixties. It had a mention of traditionally poor treatment of scholarship students being related to 'ingrained snob mentality'. Ciel raised his eyebrows, that was one way of putting it. The third book had what he was looking for.

'There are two secret societies, both unsupervised by teachers. Both take care of areas of life that the teachers would be unwilling to acknowledge. Instead the secret societies are presided over by the four prefects. If any of the prefects are unhappy with the secret societies they have no choice in the matter as tradition dictates that they must carry out their duties or lose the desired position.'

It was as he had guessed. Violet had no choice, but to go along with it or stop being a prefect. He read the next paragraph and realised that there was another layer to the secret society.

'To ensure tradition is preserved, the highest-ranking pupil who is not a prefect is to be a member of both clubs and watch over the prefects in case one or all of them rebel.'

It made sense. The secret society could be brought down if all the prefects were against it and took the information to the Police. If the tradition of having a supervisory member was still going, he had another nemesis. He was willing to bet that it still was.

He needed to find out who the highest-ranking pupil was. That either meant the highest title or best connected. The current prime minster didn't have any children so that avenue was out.

With that in mind he moved onto the drugs book. He could ask other people who the highest-ranking pupil was, it wasn't something he could find out in the library. He opened the book up and found the borrowing sheet. It was fortunate that Weston College hadn't updated to a computerised system and still used a list of stamped dates and handwritten initials and surnames.

It was quite a well borrowed book. There was a stack of sheets stapled onto the page. Ciel checked the names for the last three months of 2017 as that would have been when the prefects changed and new people were added to the society. The first names were a familiar set of names.

The four prefects had borrowed the book first, then it was Clayton, Cole, Cheslock, Arden and some other names. Harcourt had also borrowed the book a while later and the last name was Sebastian's.

It appeared that he had a list of secret society members with the exception of Sebastian. The other names had been mentioned as members of the Pudding Club before. Some of the names were familiar. He'd encountered a few at some social events. Maurice Cole was a bitchy blond as far as he remembered and Clayton wore glasses and didn't have much personality.

He closed the book and looked over at the computer area. The next thing to do was some internet research, but he was aware from the information he had been given before arriving that internet access was heavily restricted. All of the computers were in use and he didn't want to be seen researching deaths at Weston College so he put all the books back and left the library.

The computer area would probably empty out when everyone went to dinner so he hurried over to the canteen to eat first. The canteen was mostly empty of pupils and Bardroy was refilling the teabags instead of being behind the counter. He looked around to see if there was anyone he could talk to and spotted McMillan sitting by himself in the corner.

"Beef stew or vegetable lasagne?" Bardroy asked him when he approached him.

"Beef stew," Ciel said and picked out his dessert whilst he waited for the chain smoker to ladle out the stew.

He carried his tray carefully over to McMillan, Bardroy had been very generous with the serving. He didn't know if that was a sign of the chef warming up to him or being annoying. McMillan beamed at him when he noticed someone standing by him.

"Ciel! I've missed you."

It would have been polite to say that he missed him in return, but Ciel didn't quite feel the same way. McMillan's unwillingness to see the truth and idolisation of the prefects had been off putting. Weston College clearly had problems even if McMillan was unaware of the drug ring, cat mutilation and attempted murder.

"Really?" he said and sat down next to him. "I've joined the Pudding Club by the way."

McMillan smiled widely at him.

"I'm so glad. It's so fun. I don't know what's going to happen with the pudding though because Sebastian isn't here. How is he by the way?"

"He's woken up," Ciel answered. "On the negative side, he has amnesia."

McMillan's face fell and then he immediately cheered up.

"He should get his memory back soon. I know he will."

Ciel wanted him to get his memory of the day he fell off the roof back as well, but he was less optimistic. He decided to change the subject before he could get any more annoyed with McMillan's naivety.

"Who has the highest title here?"

"Edward Midford is the son of a Marquis," Macmillan began.

Ciel smiled. It appeared that unlike Sebastian, McMillan hadn't picked up on the fact that they were related.

"He's my cousin. Is there anyone else?"

"You don't look alike," he said doubtfully. "Anyway, Derrick Arden is the son of a duke who's distantly related to the queen, Clayton's uncle works for the home office in a high position, Maurice Cole is the illegitimate child of a duchess with foreign royalty connections. What are you?"

"Son of an Earl," Ciel said absently.

Those three pupils had borrowed the drugs book and were members of the Pudding Club. Technically the most powerful one should be the one with the government connections; however royal connections weren't to be sniffed at especially considering how stuck in the past Weston College was. He needed to know more about each of them before he could positively identity who had been assigned the observer role.

"Aren't those three members of the Pudding Club?" he asked.

McMillan perked up.

"They are. They're all amazing like the prefects."

That comment cemented the idea that one of them was the most dangerous person at Weston College. If McMillan thought the prefects that mutilated cats and supplied drugs were amazing he was going to get a sharp wake up call when the whole affair was over.

"In what way?"

"Clayton is in our house so you'll meet him soon enough. He's really clever and manages to always attend all the clubs he's in and keep up with schoolwork. Maurice Cole is in the red house and he's really pretty. When we used to have to bake things ourselves, his were always the best," McMillan paused to get his breath back. "Derrick Arden is also in the red house and is good at everything. He's wonderful at Sports- Sebastian is the only one that can beat him and he's academically talented as well. He's also really nice."

The observer could be any of those three. He realised with a pang that the best place to meet them and investigate them was the Pudding Club and he had a strong desire to solve the mystery before the Pudding Club had their first meeting of the term. He groaned quietly.

Was he going to be able to solve it? It was too risky to hope that the observer tradition had been dropped and he could resolve everything by finding the other three parts.

"Are you all right?" McMillan asked in concern. "Is the stress of exams getting to you?"

Exams felt very insignificant to Ciel now. He was more concerned with trying to survive Weston College and find the evidence. He was still revising out of habit, but nothing was sticking in his memory.

"I'm going back to the library after this."

* * *

As he had predicted the computer area had emptied out when he returned half an hour later. He sat down on the computer in the corner away from the few students that were left, logged in with the credentials he'd been given when he'd arrived and opened up the internet. Frustration came quickly when he realised how heavily filtered the internet was. Whilst all schools had a form of internet filters, this one was on a different level.

He downloaded a proxy and started again. Nothing came up for 'weston college murder' which was relieving and disappointing at the same time. Ciel moved onto 'weston college death' and came with one article from a local newspaper mentioning Harcourt's accident. Nothing else relevant turned up.

Was Harcourt the only death in the history of the school?

It seemed strange that no one else had died considering how outdated everything was and the general dark atmosphere of Weston College.

Another strange thing was that there was only one article about Harcourt's death and it was from a local news site. It hadn't piqued the internet of any wider media which was unusual. It was the kind of thing than the tabloids would love. The school had done an excellent job keeping it out of mainstream news.

It made sense that he hadn't known about it until Edward had told him and his father hadn't mentioned it at all.

His next search was 'Weston College expulsion' and again nothing relevant came up. Wordsmith had been right after all about no one ever being expelled.

He closed down the internet and looked around on the desktop. There was a database of newspapers produced by the newspaper club that had been around since the start of Weston College. Ciel's sour mood lifted slightly when he realised that there could be something in those articles.

Half an hour later he was back to square one. He had picked up some information here and there so if hadn't been completely wasted. He knew what his three suspects looked like and what Sebastian looked like in the PE kit.

There had been an article in the fifties about needles and joints being found in the grass outside the domestic science block which had probably been from the secret society. The follow up article mentioned a stern speech in assembly, but no one had confessed to anything and the curfew had been narrowed to 8 in the evening. The next issue was about the lack of a culprit. It suggested that the teachers genuinely had no idea about the secret society and it was really all run by the prefects. Assumedly, the prefects that left at the end of the year left the necessary information behind for the new prefects.

He might be able to find that information. The most likely place it would be in was the prefects' sitting room or their pavilion.

Ciel twiddled his thumbs whilst he added up everything. In order to solve the mystery, he was going to have to take a few risks no matter what method he tried. Some of those methods also involved breaking a lot of school rules and probably a few laws.

* * *

His chosen method was what led him to set light to a handful of paper underneath the smoke and heat detector by the stairs leading to the purple dorm.

The one sure way to empty out the building was to cause an evacuation.

When the sound of the fire alarm started pealing through the previous silent night, he grabbed the paper and extinguished it with a bottle of water, concealed it in his pocket and ran up the stairs to his floor. When he reached his bedroom door, he started to see half asleep pupils open their doors and look out.

A nightshirt clad Bluewer came running down the corridor instructing everyone to leave and gather at the fire assembly point which was the car park. Ciel made sure he was seen by Bluewer before he used the commotion on the stairs to go back.

It was to do some breaking and entering.


	16. Sixteenth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 16:**

Edward had told him that during the rare times there had been reason to believe there was a fire, the register hadn't been taken properly due to the commotion. Taking accurate attendance would be even harder considering that not everyone had returned yet. This was the only window of time Ciel had to pull off something like this.

Ciel located Redmond's room first because it was the closest and was the one he didn't have any assistance with. It was the same size as his room only with a double bed and red painted walls. He found a red folder in his desk drawer and took a quick glance through it. As Sebastian had theorised it was the other half of Bluewer's drug ledger.

He wasted a second wondering whether to steal it and hope its disappearance wouldn't be noted or to take a copy. In the end he took photos because it was a continually updated ledger and Redmond would notice by the following Wednesday in the best case scenario.

His next aim was Violet's bedroom. As promised, it was unlocked and the purple folder was lying on top of his desk, ready to be taken. There was still an incense stick burning and he could see an empty rabbit cage through the light smoke. He looked at his watch to see that ten minutes had passed. Ciel needed to hurry up if he wanted to be unnoticed.

With that thought in mind, he grabbed the folder and rushed out of the purple dorm and into the green. This was where his luck ended, Greenhill had locked his door. He wasted a minute fiddling with the lock pick and pushed the door open. A cursory search unearthed nothing that looked like a green folder and he groaned. Greenhill was more cautious than the other two. He was also a lot tidier than the others. Everything in the room was neat and orderly which made it a lot harder to find anything.

He checked down the radiator just in case and underneath all the desk drawers. Time was ticking and he didn't want to be caught. He thought about where he would hide a folder that he didn't want found by anyone.

That led him to Greenhill's suitcase. He felt the inner lining and found a flat thin object and unzipped the lining. It was indeed a green folder. He didn't have time to take photos so he just grabbed it and locked the door again.

His chest started to become uncomfortably tight as he slipped out the fire exit and into the night. The cold breeze cooled him down, but made his chest even tighter. He wished he had his inhaler with him. He was starting to feel a coughing fit coming on.

He slipped into the trees and jogged straight until he came out to the back of the car park where everyone was milling around. As he had hoped, it was an unorganised mess and no one was taking attendance.

Edward looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, presumably to silently ask if he'd been successful. His cousin had helped him with the plan. Ciel nodded in return. The two folders he had taken were squashed in the inner pocket of his coat, there had been no time to leave them in his room.

The fire alarm turned off a few seconds later and the crowd hushed.

"Is is a false alarm?" he heard Wordsmith ask another teacher.

"There isn't a fire," another teacher confirmed. "It must be a glitch in the system."

"Should we lead them back to the building?" a different teacher asked.

The teachers and prefects converged for a minute before ordering everyone to split into houses. Ciel found McMillan who had neglected to grab acoat and was shivering.

"Are you okay? McMillan asked in concern. "Your face is red."

"I'm a bit scared," Ciel said. "I thought it was a real fire."

"I did too," McMillan giggled. "I'm glad it's not. I've been looking for you."

"I lost you in the crowd," Ciel lied.

The red house was led away by Redmond first and Bluewer started leading everyone in the blue house back to the dorm building five minutes later.

The first thing Ciel did when he got back to his room was to lay Sebastian's duvet on the floor by the door and place his suitcase on top. That would make sure his light wouldn't be visible from the corridor and would alert him to anyone walking in.

He pulled out the folders he had taken and his phone. The two halves of the drug ledger lined up perfectly and he could see that the most recent delivery had been the day after Harcourt's death. That suggested that the meetings had ended or had been temporarily stopped. He also didn't have to worry about them getting him into drugs too soon because they hadn't had a delivery. There was also a question of where they came from.

The delivery column on the ledger merely listed 'usual route' for all entries. It clearly meant something to the prefects. He couldn't see it being a drug dealer that hung around outside the gates mainly because it would attract too much attention and the amounts and frequency were too excessive for that to be practical. It would something he would add to the list of things to investigate.

The other two folders were next. Violet's contained alternating pages explaining the history of the secret society which had been added onto by past prefects. Greenhill had the other pages and together they were an interesting read.

The document confirmed some of his guesses and things he'd already known. The four prefects had to be members, but were ablae to choose whether or not to take part in the drug taking. The other members had to also be members of the Pudding Club and scholarship members were banned. Ciel scanned through to the end to see if that had changed over the years and it hadn't which raised the question of why Harcourt had been allowed in.

The observer role was mentioned as being designated for the highest-ranking pupil who was not a prefect, government and royal connections were criteria. It made Ciel sure that his three suspects were the right ones.

There were two pages at the end about the drama club's secret society. The rules were less strict there, only one prefect had to be the leader, he couldn't date anyone and the other prefects didn't have to be members. The observer also had to be a member, but was free to date anyone. Clearly the dating society ran itself and didn't need as much attention. Ciel had no plans to get mixed up in that secret society. That one hadn't killed anyone.

Redmond had to be the designated prefect for that society as he was the only prefect that had mentioned it. The others hadn't been bothered about it from what he'd overheard. He was struck by a sudden thought, he could narrow down the suspects by finding out if they were also members of the Drama Club.

That could wait until the next day so he placed the two folders with the one Sebastian had taken. It was a good hiding place because the darkness under the desk made it hard to see anything. He was now reasonably confident that the theft wouldn't be noticed because there was no reason for Greenhill to decide to suddenly check the history of the secret society.

The risk of using the fire alarm was that it could make them suspicious but it was more likely to be attributed to a glitch in the system.

* * *

"I can't believe you had the guts to do that," Sebastian said.

Ciel had texted him the next morning about what he'd found and the supposed amnesiac had called him immediately.

"It wasn't my original plan," Ciel agreed. "My other plan was to do them one at a time, but it would have taken too long and had the most risks. The fire alarm method worked. Besides, I would be safer if I was expelled for setting it off deliberately."

"That's true," Sebastian acknowledged. "Did you find out much?"

Ciel summarised his findings and Sebastian was silent for a minute.

"If any of your three suspects is the observer, we're both in trouble. The prefects have their weak points, but those three are dangerous," he said. "Sorry for getting you into this."

"Can you tell me about them? McMillan was useless."

"Clayton is very smart, like you and me. It's also hard to tell what's he thinking, he's very cold and calculating. Cole is very different. He's very sneaky and he's good at getting himself out of trouble. He used to be the star student early on and then he was exposed for cheating on homework. He managed to worm himself out of any punishment and we all still think he's cheating, but we don't have any proof," Sebastian sighed. "He's quite a suck up to the teachers and to the prefects. Arden is the current star student with the teachers and he's managed to be popular with pupils as well. I personally think he's someone to watch out for."

They all sounded like they would be perfect in Ciel's opinion. The problem was that he didn't have much time left and he didn't really know anything of them well enough to make a guess.

"In your personal opinion, who should it be?"

"They would never choose Maurice Cole," Sebastian said. "He's well known as a two face and he would never be given such an important position after being caught out once for cheating. It's one of the other two. In case you're wondering, Joanne didn't mention either as being members so I can't help you there. Either the observer was never present or it was someone he didn't want to grass on."

Ciel saved that mental note to mull over later before moving on to his next question.

"The observer has to be a member of both secret societies. Do you know if either of them are in the drama one? That society appears to be an open secret."

"I've never been mixed up with the Drama Club so I can't be sure," Sebastian admitted. "I was asked to join once by the way, they wanted me for the dating part. Apparently, they thought I would be a draw for them and attract more people into the dating pool."

His tone was amused and Ciel wouldn't have minded knowing what Sebastian was thinking. However he did find a flaw in Sebastian's story.

"Scholarship students aren't allowed in any of the secret societies," he pointed out.

Sebastian laughed and Ciel glared at his bed.

"Maybe they wanted to bend the rules because I'm so handsome."

It wasn't amusing to Ciel as it made him remember that someone had bent the rules to let Harcourt into the society that led to his death. That person had to have known what the outcome would have been.

"I'm going to hang up now," he told him. "I hope you don't get too lonely all by yourself in hospital."

His manipulative tactic succeeded.

"I'm going to be serious here, don't feel tempted to join the Drama Club at all to help investigate. It wouldn't give you much information and the Drama Club attracts the creepiest pupils. Redmond isn't a person to trust either."

It was Ciel's turn to tease. "Are you worried I'll get a boyfriend?"

Sebastian did not find it amusing. "You'll lower my opinion of you if you join."

The tense mood only got worse when Sebastian suddenly swore loudly and Ciel barely managed to make out what he said before he hung up. Bluewer had walked into his ward with Wordsmith.

His concerns about Wordsmith being too easily manipulated had been true. Bluewer had found his way to Sebastian. He could only hope that he would fall for the amnesia lie and be reassured by it. Sebastian probably couldn't survive another murder attempt.

There wasn't anything that Ciel could do about it. He was stuck at Weston College and the hospital was a half hour drive away. All he could do was hope that Sebastian's act fooled the smartest prefect. Sebastian would contact him once Bluewer had gone to let him know he was okay.

The next half an hour was occupied with revision in the library. Ciel had looked around discreetly for either of his suspects and only found Maurice Cole much to his annoyance. The blond glared at him when he caught him staring and stormed off to another section.

Ciel's phone buzzed when he was looking through online past papers and he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw who was calling him.

He rushed outside the library to take the call. The last thing he needed was for someone to overhear his call.

"I should have had the main role in the play last year instead of Redmond," was the first thing that Sebastian said.

"I take it that he fell for it then," Ciel said.

There was a pause before Sebastian answered.

"He asked lots of questions and kept staring me down. He was more relaxed when he and Wordsmith left so I believe that he was fooled into thinking I don't remember anything. He could be a better actor than I think though."

Ciel thought back to Bluewer's performance he'd seen when he'd been pretending to Wordsmith about hoping Sebastian would wake up. Only someone has unobservant and trusting as Wordsmith would have believed it.

"Hopefully not. So, you're safe for the time being?"

"I am, but you're not," Sebastian reminded him.

Almost as if on cue there was a knock on the door and three of the prefects barged in. Ciel immediately ended the call and slipped his phone into his pocket. Bluewer couldn't have returned yet as he'd only just left Sebastian at the hospital. The most important question was, why were they in his room?

"Bluewer wants us to take you somewhere," Greenhill said. "By the way, you don't have a choice."

Ciel's heart rate began to speed up. Had they realised that their rooms had been searched and worked out that it was him?

It only got worse when Redmond pulled out a blindfold and approached him.

"Close your eyes," Redmond whispered.


	17. Seventeenth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 17:**

Ciel seriously debated his chances of escaping as Redmond covered his eyes with the blindfold. He could tear it off, kick in him balls and run like hell. There were a number of issues with that idea though; mainly his lack of physical ability. However, something felt off about the situation. They weren't using any force on him and they hadn't looked angry when they had entered. If they had found it was him behind the fire alarm, they should look more annoyed with him.

Redmond took his arm and led him out the room and into the corridor. The prefects had a problem trying to get him down the stairs safely and Violet took the chance during the confusion to whisper in his ear.

"It's the initiation ceremony for the Pudding Club."

It clicked in Ciel's mind. Wordsmith had told him that the test for the Pudding Club involved guessing pudding whilst wearing a blindfold. He had overreacted. Then again, the first meeting was supposed to be the following week as exams were starting tomorrow.

There was something strange, but he couldn't be sure. He would have to see what would happen.

He was pulled outside where it thankfully wasn't snowing. After that he was taken down two corridors and was pulled into a room. Ciel sniffed the air and smelt washing up liquid and disinfectant instead of the musty smell that everywhere else in the school smelt like. He was pushed down onto a stool and he knew where he was.

It had to be a normal Pudding Club initiation as they were in the Food Technology room. It had been mentioned that the Pudding Club used the Food Tech classroom for meetings.

He became aware from lots of rustling and whispers that there were other people in the classroom. They had to be the other members of the club which meant that his suspects could also be there.

"As you can see, we have brought our new recruit here. This meeting is earlier than planned as Bluewer was able to obtain some puddings for the test today. Regarding future meetings, we can either revert to the old format of one member baking a week or someone can step up to replace Sebastian," Greenhill announced loudly.

There was a smattering of whispers in response. It appeared that neither option was welcome to the members. Ciel couldn't say he'd be thrilled by the idea of every member baking as he couldn't bake to save his life. He refocused his mind, he had to focus on surviving and not on possible poor-quality puddings he could be eating in the future.

"The initiation can't start properly until Bluewer gets back," Redmond continued on from Greenhill. "I can introduce the new member; He's Ciel Phantomhive, he's new and he's in the blue house. Apparently, he like pudding a lot. The test will show if he's truthful."

There was a brief ten seconds of clapping and Ciel felt more embarrassed than scared. There was also the question of if he could actually get the puddings right. If he failed he would lose a chance to get to observe his suspects and keep an eye on the prefects.

The blue house prefect arrived twenty minutes later. Ciel had spent the last twenty minutes blindfolded ignoring Redmond telling him how attractive he was and trying to listen into the gossiping members. All he'd picked up on was that lots of them thought he was cute and wondered if he would join the drama club. He was also sure that he had caught someone whispering how good he looked in a blindfold.

He was slightly relieved by the arrival of Bluewer as it silenced the whispering, but it also brought all the tension back.

A plastic rustling sound became apparent and he deduced that it was shopping bags. Bluewer must have convinced Wordsmith to let him go shopping for pudding.

"We are going to have to use some supermarket pudding for the test," Bluewer warned the club members. "Don't worry, they're not from Asda or Tesco."

There was a collective sigh of relief and Ciel raised an eyebrow. He had forgotten for a moment that he was at a snobby school. The supermarket snobbiness brought him back.

The test didn't start until ten minutes later as it took the prefects a while to arrange the puddings. Ciel sat there whilst his traitorous stomach rumbled at the thought of pudding.

"We're starting now. Keep the noise down," Greenhill ordered. "Phantomhive, are you ready?"

"I am," Ciel confirmed with a tinge of uneasiness. Technically he should be safe as there were other people present and he had known about the test, but he couldn't put anything past the prefects.

"Wonderful," Redmond said and Ciel heard Violet grunt.

"Can you tell me what the first pudding is?" Bluewer asked as Ciel felt something sticky against his lips and opened his mouth.

"Sticky toffee pudding," Ciel answered immediately.

"Next one?"

"Rice pudding."

Ciel tried not to gag as he swallowed the thick pudding.

"This one?"

The third pudding took a while to recognise and then to name. He only had a vague recollection of it.

"Crème caramel."

The test comprised of a total of 40 puddings and by the end of it Ciel felt sick, but he was confident that his answers were right. His blindfold was torn off dramatically by Redmond after the last one and he was confronted by the sight of twenty Weston College pupils staring at him intently.

"Ciel Phantomhive has passed the initiation test with full marks," Bluewer informed them.

The group of pupils clapped politely and McMillan beamed widely at Ciel. Ciel smiled briefly in return and searched for his suspects.

Clayton was sitting in the back row at the very end looking like watching someone eat pudding blindfolded was the most pointless thing to do. Derrick Arden was in the middle of the front row talking and laughing with the people around him. He was definitely more of a social butterfly than Clayton. He wasted a second looking for Maurice Cole and found him trying to get Redmond's attention and failing miserably.

Instead the red house prefect was keen on talking to him.

"Now that you've got into this club, are you interested in another one?"

It was obvious he was referencing the Drama Club. Ciel had no real interest in joining for himself and he was creeped out by how eager people were for him to join the dating network. There were some clues to be gained from it. Hopefully he could obtain them without having to join himself.

"Is it possible to join two big clubs at once?" he asked with a curious tone.

Redmond tossed his long hair back.

"Of course you can. Half the people here are members of the Drama Club as well. Some people here are even in four clubs. You see, you don't have to attend every meeting."

"Who here is also a member of the Drama Club?" It was worth a try.

"Cole is, Clayton is, but he seems to regret joining and only turns up to criticise," Redmond paused for a breath. "Derrick is a member, he had a leading role in the most recent play."

He mentioned a few other names that Ciel didn't know. However Ciel had got what he wanted. His two suspects were shaping up to be correct. He just needed to work out which one it was.

"Will you join then?" Redmond pressed him again.

Ciel was saved by the arrival of Bluewer.

"Stop trying to recruit him into the Drama Club," the blue house prefect sighed. "He's academic unlike you."

Redmond flipped his hair dramatically and wandered off in the direction of the other prefects leaving Ciel with Bluewer.

"Well done on the test. I know you weren't expecting it today so thank you for going along with it. I went to see Sebastian with the housemaster earlier and I realised we could go shopping for pudding afterwards instead of having to order it in for next week," the prefect explained. "It's also a treat before the start of exams."

That did explain the sudden blindfolding. Ciel couldn't tell if it meant that he would be invited to the inner circle sooner.

Bluewer patted him on the back encouragingly.

"You've done the hard part. Soon you'll have a chance to be part of something even more exclusive."

Ciel tried not to flinch at the implied invitation to a drug taking society that he had no desire to be part of. He was stuck on how to answer.

"Okay," he said vaguely and tried to change the subject to something safer. "Do you feel prepared for the exams tomorrow?"

Bluewer ignored the subject change.

"It will change how you see this school. I know you haven't had the best experience with Sebastian having that accident. I look forward to when you can join."

Ciel was saved by Derrick Arden approaching Bluewer. The blue house prefect flashed a fake looking smile at Derrick before introducing Ciel.

"You'll get to know each other better when lessons actually start," the prefect said.

Derrick smiled widely at Ciel.

"I look forward to getting to know you better. You should join some more clubs, are you good at sports?"

Ciel hated him immediately. He didn't get on well with optimistic and overfriendly people and the mention of sports was even more off-putting. Whether or not Derrick was the person he was looking for was another matter. Bluewer hadn't reacted oddly to his presence.

He looked around for Clayton and noticed that Violet was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and was glaring in his direction. Ciel assumed that Violet wasn't happy with him for joining and resumed looking for Clayton.

Fortunately he didn't have to look around properly as the tall dark haired pupil was called over by Derrick. The introductions were repeated again only with Clayton asking about chess instead of sports. Violet also glared in their direction.

After that he was introduced to even more pupils and lost track of the two.

Ciel left the food tech room later on feeling even more wary than he had been before. Clayton and Arden were both the perfect suspects and he had confirmation that the prefects were planning on bringing him into the secret society.

At that moment he heard a loud thud right next to him and looked out the window. Mey-Rin and Finny were standing on the grass. Mey-Rin was waving at him whilst Finny was preparing to throw another stone. Ciel hurriedly grabbed his phone and called Mey-Rin's number before Finny could smash the window.

If anyone saw him talking to Mey-Rin and Finny it would look odd and the prefects might hear about it and realise he was up to something.

"Why are you here?" he asked as soon as Mey-Rin picked up.

"I've been calling you on and off for the past two hours," she whined. "We got worried about you so we came here."

Ciel looked down at his phone that had been left on his desk and noticed all the missed calls. She did have a very good point. Anything could have happened to him in those two hours. He appreciated their concern as it could have easily been something serious.

"Something happened," he told her. "Shall we meet?"

* * *

"So, you could be recruited into the drug taking part at any time?" Finny summarised once Ciel had told them everything they had missed out on.

They had gathered at Mey-Rin's house again. This time Bardroy had offered Ciel some tea which Mey-Rin had refused on his behalf for the obvious reason.

"And Sebastian's definitely okay?" she asked.

Both Finny and Ciel looked at her. She clearly had different priorities to them. Finny poked her arm.

"He's fine. Ciel's in more danger," he told her.

Mey-Rin flushed in embarrassment and hurriedly contributed to the conversation.

"I think it's Clayton. He's in the blue house so perhaps Joanne admired him and didn't want to think he was part of something that illegal."

"Clayton isn't that well liked," Finny corrected her. "Most people here think he's acts like he's got a stick up his arse. It's got to be Derrick Arden."

"He wouldn't be involved in anything criminal," Mey-Rin protested. "It's got to be Clayton."

Ciel watched their argument unfold and kept silent mainly because they were providing him with information without him asking. He let them go on uninterrupted whilst he mulled over everything he had learnt about the mystery. It all added up to a certain person being behind everything. He was also sure that he had identified the right person.

"I think I know who it is," he said. "It's got to be him."


	18. Eighteenth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 18:**

Mey-Rin and Finny turned to look at him expectantly.

"Who is it then?" Finny enquired eagerly.

Ciel was all too keen to explain. This had always been his favourite part of the mystery stories he read, now he had an opportunity to show off his own mystery solving abilities.

"It's Derrick Arden of course. As you said, Clayton isn't overly popular with other students. Whilst he's clever and influential, he's not that well liked himself. Harcourt never told Sebastian about him. If it was Clayton he would have told him there and then. Instead he kept quiet so it had to be someone that was well liked and he respected. It has to be Derrick Arden."

His listeners exchanged looks and then nodded.

"It does make sense," Mey-Rin agreed. "There's not much proof though. Clayton could have just threatened Harcourt to keep quiet."

Ciel was glad that Mey-Rin was sharp enough to pick up that it was all still a theory. He liked to think that she was learning and not wanting to defend Arden just because he was good looking.

"He's a dedicated member of the Drama Club whereas Clayton rarely turns up and didn't look that invested in the Pudding Club either. The observer has to be a member of both clubs and the past prefects wouldn't have picked someone with poor attendance and no enthusiasm for both clubs," he explained.

Mey-Rin still looked skeptical.

"Do you have any other proof?" she questioned.

"No," Ciel admitted. "I need to talk to Sebastian about it."

"You can do it now," she replied looking suspiciously eager.

Finny nudged her again and Ciel rolled his eyes. At some point he would have to ask Sebastian what was going on between him and Mey-Rin. She did have a point despite her ulterior motives. The best person to ask for clarification was Sebastian and he needed to tell him about his initiation to the Pudding Club.

"Hello," Sebastian said silkily once he had picked up.

Ciel was ready to roll his eyes and then he saw that Mey-Rin looked like she had the early signs of a nosebleed. Was she okay?

"Hello. I have a few things to say, I'm now a full member of the Pudding Club and I think I know who the observer is."

It five minutes to get Sebastian up to date with events at Weston College.

"So, people think you look good in a blindfold and want you to join the dating club. I told you that you should never join," Sebastian said smugly. "I hope you appreciate that."

Ciel blinked. He had been expecting Sebastian to be more concerned about everything else he had told him not that one small detail he mentioned.

"Is that all you took from what I just told you?"

"I got everything else. You need to resolve everything before you get pulled in any deeper," Sebastian summarised neatly.

"Can't he go to the police with the evidence he has?" Finny asked. "That would be the proper way to end this."

It had been a possibility once he had his hands on the four folders detailing the history of the secret society and the record of drugs but he had dismissed it after a moment of consideration.

"It's circumstantial evidence," he explained. "It isn't believable on its own. If they got charged by the Police, the charge wouldn't stick and we would all be in danger later on. I picked up some of the used syringes as well, however that doesn't prove much either. It could get blamed on someone else."

"What do you need then?"

"To have evidence of them having drugs in their possession or distributing them," Sebastian answered for him. "The best way would be to secretly film their meetings- that is too dangerous so we're going to have to find something else. We need to get the evidence before Ciel has to go to a secret society meeting."

"How are we going to do that?" Finny asked.

Ciel was reassured by the use of 'we'. He had been expecting Mey-Rin and Finny to back out when it got too dangerous.

"Are you sure you two want to help? It's getting precarious now," Ciel reminded them.

"Of course we're going to help," Mey-Rin assured him. "You can't do everything by yourself. Just let us know when you want us to find something out for you."

Sebastian cleared his throat.

"How touching," he teased. "On a more serious note, you need to find the source of the drugs and use that. I never got chance to work out where the supply was coming from."

The drug ledger flashed in Ciel's mind. It had said 'usual route'. He was going to have to keep an eye on prefects. He didn't know quite enough about drugs to work out where four school pupils were getting mass amounts in without it being noticed. There was one person he could ask which was his father, but that was asking to be taken out of school without warning. That would mean that the secret society would be able to carry on and target other pupils in the future.

"Are there any avenues of investigation that you can suggest?" Ciel asked. Sebastian might know a few things that could be hints without realising it. Sebastian had been attending Weston College a lot longer than him.

"There's some connection with the farm across the fields. The Pudding Club used to get eggs from there and would give them to me to make something," Sebastian said.

"They supply the school kitchen as well," Mey-Rin spoke up. "Do you think the drugs are coming in from the farm?"

"They do require a source that is consistent and doesn't appear suspicious. The farm route does fulfil those requirements," Ciel acknowledged. "I guess I would have to get hold of the delivery before they do."

* * *

His opportunity to gain evidence arrived before he had expected it. He was walking back through the front entrance in the afternoon after a quick revision trip to the library when the secretary called after him.

"Ciel, there's a parcel for you."

That had to be the parcel from his mother. It felt like it had been ages since he had requested those boots. He was handed the parcel and he checked the label in case it was another mutilated animal. The handwriting was definitely his mother's and he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't have to see another blood covered cat. Not that he'd got round to burying the original one.

"Is Sebastian coming back anytime soon?" the secretary asked as he signed for the parcel. "There's something for the Pudding Club that came in with yours."

Could it be a shipment of drugs? He needed to get hold of it. It was time to pull out his best acting skills.

"He's got amnesia," he explained with a disappointed pout. " Do you think should take it to him in hospital to see if it reminds him of something?

It made no sense to take pudding ingredients to the hospital, but he was hoping that the secretary would be too caught up with Sebastian's plight to realise.

"Oh dear," she gasped. "If it helps, I can let you take it."

She quickly handed him the parcel which was large, but had no real weight to it when he took hold of it. He smiled at her and left as quickly as possible.

Once he was outside he hesitated over where to open the parcel and decided to make another visit to Mey-Rin's house. The last thing he needed was for a prefect to see him with it or worse, Derrick Arden.

McMillan bumped into him on his way down the outside path and knocked the parcels out his grip. Ciel quickly picked it up again and made sure the address label on the Pudding Club parcel was covered by his mother's parcel. McMillan spent a long time apologising and making sure he was all right before Ciel could press onto Mey-Rin's house.

Mey-Rin and Finny were surprised to see him again so soon, but were excited once he had explained it. Finny closed the curtains in her bedroom whilst the owner went looking for a something to open the box with carefully and came back with a sharp knife.

Ciel took it off her quickly in case she had an accident and cleanly slit the tape on the box. There was a chance he would need to seal it up again so he needed to be careful.

The first look at the box was disappointing. All that was there was boxes of eggs. Ciel frowned and then took out the egg boxes. Beneath them was plastic bags and he knew that he'd found the source.

"Is that weed?" Finny asked. "I've never seen it before."

"I think so," Ciel said. "I can't say I know much either. There might be some harder drugs on the next layer."

He pulled out the bags of weed and found syringes and bags of powder on the next layer. It certainly was a well stocked package. There had to be a meeting soon. A meeting that he was probably supposed to be invited to.

"Can you go the Police with this?" Finny enquired.

"Well, there's enough here to get them interested enough to investigate," Ciel said. "I am keen to get it into safe hands as soon as possible. The prefects are going to want to collect the parcel soon and the secretary will tell them I picked it up."

"Bardroy is leaving soon in his van to collect some supplies for the kitchen from the town, he can take you directly to the Police station," Mey-Rin offered.

Ciel's plan had been to call the non- emergency police number, but Mey-Rin's idea was better and much quicker.

"I'll tell him to wait for you," she said and jumped up to leave.

Bardroy was soon dragged in to her bedroom and agreed to drop him off at the local Police station. Ciel didn't explain the purpose of the visit in case it caused the Bardroy to change his mind. He couldn't tell how Bardroy would react if he found out about the drugs.

"I'll meet you at the back in twenty minutes," the chain smoker said and left the room.

Ciel packed up the drugs again and waited under the overhanging arch at the back of the main building. It was raining again and the sky was completely grey. He was glad that he had thought to take his coat out with him. He went to pull out his phone so he could tell Lizzie where he was going and found nothing in its usual place. That was odd. His phone was always in that pocket.

He searched through all his pockets frantically and came up short. Could he have left it behind at Mey-Rin's? He hadn't taken it out there. Ciel didn't have time to speculate where it could be as a white van with the Weston College logo on the side pulled up by him. The windows were tinted so he wasn't able to see Bardroy's face.

Ciel walked round and opened the passenger door and got in. He looked over at the driver and received a fright. Instead of Bardroy sitting in the driver's seat, it was Derrick Arden.

"Are you going somewhere special?" he enquired with a sinister grin that caused Ciel's blood to run cold.

He took the parcel swiftly from Ciel's slackened grip. "That's not going anywhere near the Police. Greenhill, do it."

Ciel barely had time to react to the sudden presence behind him before he felt a prick in his neck. His vision began to swim and then fade completely as he lost consciousness.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Sorry about the cliffhanger.**


	19. Nineteenth Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 19:**

Ciel woke up slowly with heavy eyelids. At first all he could see was dark figures around him and then his vision adjusted. Standing in front of him was Derrick Arden with the four prefects standing stiffly behind him.

"He's come to. The dosage was perfect," the blond commented with satisfaction.

As he spoke Ciel became aware of several things. Firstly, he was tied to a chair, he was cold and they weren't at Weston College. Instead they were outside and were by something that looked like a small lake. He looked the prefects again and tried to think of a way out of the precarious situation he was in.

"...Why am I here?" he asked slowly due to his mouth being half paralysed from whatever they had used to knock him out.

"Because you know too much," Derrick replied simply. "We can't have anything leaking out to ruin Weston College traditions. Tradition is absolute."

There was the option of playing dumb and pretending to not know anything, but it clearly wouldn't work. He had been caught on his way out of Weston College with the drugs.

"How much do you think I know?" He asked.

"Enough to be a hazard," was the reply. "We had a little help from one of your supposed friends by the way. He was very willing to help us."

As he spoke Derrick produced Ciel's phone. That was when Ciel knew that McMillan had stolen his phone earlier when he had walked into him. To think that he'd never suspected a thing. McMillan's devotion to the prefects had always been he'd considered annoying rather than a major cause for concern.

"He'll be upset when he finds out what happened to you, however he won't say anything against us," Greenhill added in kindly.

That line made Ciel realise that they definitely were going to kill him. He was never going back home.

"Where are we?"

"At the farm next to the school," Bluewer told him. "It has an interesting history."

"It's been the source of drugs for the inner sect ever since it started," Derrick said with a smirk.

"It's been very useful to generations of pupils," Redmond spoke up.

"It exists as permanent drugs supply. Most of the Pudding Club's budget goes towards this. It's been an ongoing tradition like the Drama Club. It's more secret than the dating ring," Derrick continued on.

"Is killing pupils also a tradition?" Ciel asked even though he already knew the answer.

Derrick faltered slightly and the prefects had the grace to look guilty.

"I thought we could add a little spice to the gatherings and I invited your predecessor. It was enjoyable watching him struggle. Most people had been waiting for so long to see him suffer. I was the one that came up with the idea to get him away from Sebastian. I did hope it would become a new tradition to invite a scholarship pupil to the club and watch them flounder."

That had not been the answer Ciel had predicted. He had underestimated Derrick Arden's lack of decency and empathy.

"We didn't know he was going to die," Edgar interrupted. "We were told he would get weaned off at the end of the year."

Derrick glared at Edgar.

"Shut up. I'm the one that runs the societies. Know your place, you're just the nephew of a pervert viscount."

Redmond took a step back and lapsed into silence.

"I thought it would be amusing to see if he would survive. He didn't last in the end," Derrick continued on.

"Was he meant to die?" Ciel asked.

The prefects exchanged glances between the four of them which Ciel couldn't interpret.

"I had the next meeting cancelled to see what would happen. I found him on the ground and left him there."

Ciel was left speechless by the admission of guilt. He had known Derrick Arden's treatment of Harcourt hadn't been exactly angelic, but to hear that he had just left him dying on the ground was a shock. He then noticed that the prefects were whispering between themselves.

"Stop whispering," Derrick ordered. "You all had an idea of what happened that night."

Whilst it was interesting to find out that the prefects hadn't known the full details or been the instigators of Harcourt's death, Ciel was more focused on surviving. He needed a plan.

He wriggled his wrists that were tied around the back of the chair to test the tightness and was surprised to find the rope was so loose. He could probably slip his hands out without being noticed. The next question was how to actually get away from them. There was no way he could outrun them and he didn't really know the way back to the school. He didn't have his phone either so he couldn't call anyone for help.

Maybe Mey-Rin and Finny would realise that Bardroy hadn't taken him and would raise the alarm. Or perhaps they wouldn't be sure what to do without him there to lead them. He might not have a way out and that alarmed him. His mother had been right, his curiosity was going to be the end of him.

"If you're wondering about Sebastian's little accident on the roof, I can tell you about that one too," the blond continued.

That was the only real mystery left. Ciel was now aware of the true purpose of the secret society, who was behind the secret society and what had happened to Harcourt. It was ironic to think that he only obtained all the answers just before he died.

"I called him up there to discuss the Harcourt situation. He was rather insistent on knowing what happened for some reason. I had thought he wouldn't care too much and would not bother trying to find out what happened. He didn't seemed pleased that I had done him a favour," Derrick shrugged. "He had a lot of questions for me instead. That's when I knew he had to go."

Ciel stared at him silently. He was definitely detached from reality.

"You said it was an accident," Bluewer said accusingly.

Derrick smiled awkwardly. "I lied. I distracted him and gave him a shove. He did put up quite a fight in the process. It's kind of lucky he didn't die because he probably had extra injuries from me. It would have looked strange in the autopsy."

Ciel resumed trying to twist his wrists in the right position so he could get his arms out of the rope. Derrick Arden's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"There's no use in getting out of that rope. It's loose on purpose, I can't have the Police finding rope marks on you. It won't tally with the death we have planned for you."

That was one of the darkest things Ciel had ever heard.

"How am I going to die?" he asked casually.

"Drug overdose or drowning. It depends in which one kills you first."

Ciel's stomach clenched painfully. They really had the intent to kill him. It was looking even more likely that he wouldn't escape.

"It might interest you to know that we're using the drugs that you attempted to take to the Police. Very ironic," Derrick said.

"That's wonderful," Ciel answered sarcastically. "How are you going to make it look not suspicious?"

Ciel remembered that his fingerprints would be on any drug taking implements and wrappings. That parcel had been a trap in more than one way. It would look like he took the drugs himself. There was certainly brains behind the operation.

"You were a troubled student that took an overdose and accidentally drowned. The prefects were keeping an eye on you and were very distraught to find they hadn't found you in time."

"How do you know I haven't told other people about what I've found out?"

At the moment his best lifeline was Mey-Rin and Finny.

"I will tell your friends that I'll get their family fired from their jobs and unable to get any others if they tell anyone," Derrick said nastily.

Derrick had chosen his method well. That threat would work on those two. The three of them weren't close enough for them to want to risk their families for him. That left Edward as his only lifeline. It wasn't a guaranteed one. Edward probably wouldn't know he was gone.

"As for Sebastian, I have suspicions about his convenient amnesia," Derrick added much to Ciel's horror.

"He was pushed off a roof and was in a coma, it's likely he really has amnesia," Bluewer interrupted.

"It's Sebastian, he's smart enough to fool you," Derrick snapped back. "We have to take care of him after Phantomhive."

"Do we have to kill someone else?" Edgar sighed loudly. "It's getting annoying."

"Sebastian will be the last person we kill, don't worry," Derrick promised them with a tight smile. "I'm taking Greenhill to the hospital with me after we've killed Phantomhive. Sebastian's too weak to fight back based on what Bluewer told us about his condition."

"I didn't know you were going to kill him," Bluewer argued.

Derrick glared back. Ciel could feel the ferocity in the glare even though he wasn't in the firing line. It looked like his hold on the prefects was weakening. Could he use that to his advantage?

"Your conscience doesn't matter now. Just get it done and you won't have to worry about your future anymore," Derrick retorted sharply.

Bluewer sighed and bent down to open the parcel. He drew out the syringes, a bag of powder and a metal straw. Ciel's heartbeat sped up to an uncomfortable pace and he fought to keep calm. He couldn't die here. Bluewer pulled on a pair of latex gloves.

"I'll leave once he's nearly dead," Derrick said with a shrug. "I don't quite trust you enough to leave you alone. Start with the cocaine injection. It's the most dangerous one and takes effect the fastest.

Bluewer nodded silently approached him and placed the drugs on the ground next to him. He picked up the syringe first. Ciel kicked him in the head in desperation and frantically tried to get the rope off. He had never thought he would end up in a situation like this.

"Can someone hold him still?" Bluewer asked quietly.

Edgar came over and held his legs down. The blue house prefect took hold of Ciel's arm and swiftly injected the contents of the syringe. Ciel barely had any time to react to the stabbing feeling before his body began to heat up and his heartrate increased even more.

"You feel high in a minute," Derrick commented cheerfully. "You're getting a heroin injection next. We've been slightly nice; all the needles are clean and the drugs are pure. Not that you'll live long enough to appreciate that."

Ciel looked over desperately at Violet who averted his eyes guiltily. There wasn't any chance to feel hurt by the avoidance as everything began to feel very far away and he felt uncomfortably hot.

"You'll be off your face whilst you drown so you won't feel anything."

Derrick's words sounded soft and pleasant to listen to. He didn't feel the second injection at all. Then he heard a faint noise in the distance that he faintly recognised.

"It's the Police!" Bluewer exclaimed.

"What shall we do with Phantomhive?" Greenhill asked.

"Throw him in and run. Just do it now!" Derrick shouted.

Ciel vaguely felt being picked up and dragged along the ground. Then he was underwater which was cooling and pleasant until he ran out of oxygen.

* * *

 **A/N: There won't be any cliffhangers as the next chapter will be the final chapter.**


	20. Final Night

**Solomon's Purgatory:**

 **Chapter 20:**

Ciel didn't wake up pleasantly. His mouth was parched and he could barely breathe and his vision was blurred. It took him a while to realise that he was wearing an oxygen mask and there was someone that looked like a doctor leaning over him. He relaxed a little when he realised that if there was a doctor looking after him, he had to be safe from Derrick Arden.

He tried to ask what happened, but his mouth wasn't able to make any sound.

"You're safe now," the doctor told him kindly. He said something else that Ciel couldn't make out.

Ciel tried to nod and fell asleep in the process. When he woke up again he thought he was alone until he saw a nurse. This time he felt more alert and there wasn't an oxygen mask.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked. "You can start having visitors in a couple of days. There's lots of people keen to visit you. I'm going to get the doctor to explain everything to you."

She left quickly, leaving Ciel to adjust to his surroundings. He was indeed in a hospital room, a private one at that. He was definitely alive, his painful throat attested to that. How was he still alive and what had happened to Derrick Arden and the prefects?

The most burning question he had for the doctor was if he now had a drug addiction. They had given him deliberately high doses of two of the most addictive drugs. Even though he was alive he might still have serious aftereffects from it.

His worried thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the doctor who he recognised from earlier.

"He's more awake now," the doctor stated the obvious.

The next thirty minutes were filled with tests. From the lack of genuine worry about the results, Ciel began to hope that he was indeed fine after nearly dying.

"You probably want some details about what happened. You were pulled out the water before your brain lost oxygen so there isn't any damage to your brain. As for the drugs, you will be observed for any signs of withdrawal symptoms and you will be given the appropriate medication if you show any signs. We pumped your stomach and you will certainly feel nauseous for a few days."

Ciel nodded weakly. He felt that he was mentally okay. He didn't remember much after he'd been infected with the drugs. It was probably for the best.

* * *

"There's someone outside that's very keen to see you," the nurse said the next day. "He's been waiting eagerly."

"Who's that?" Ciel asked with a strained voice.

It could be anyone from Wordsmith to Finny. It could even be McMillan wanting to apologise for stealing his phone.

The nurse grinned at him and winked broadly.

"Sebastian of course."

The fact that Sebastian was still at the same hospital had completely slipped his mind. He hadn't thought of Sebastian since he had woken up. His headache and odd feeling in his stomach had distracted him from everything.

"Is he allowed to visit yet?" he enquired.

"Your parents are coming later this morning so you can fit him in first," she explained. "You can introduce your boyfriend to your parents then."

Ciel stared at her for a few seconds. Had he heard her right?

"He's not my boyfriend. I only met him a few days ago."

The nurse looked confused. Something had to had given her the impression that he was romantically involved with Sebastian.

"He told me you were going out."

"We're not," Ciel assured her.

He was going to have some strong words with Sebastian when he saw him again.

"He seems to want to be your boyfriend," she said and changed the subject. "I'm going to take your blood pressure now."

Ciel held his left arm out dutifully. The sight of the needle marks on his other arm were still bothering him. The only positive part of the whole experience was that he didn't have any vein damage from the forced infections.

"The doctor will come and see you again before you can get visitors," the nurse said after she had told him that his pressure was normal.

* * *

After being cleared for having visitors, Ciel sat up in bed and waited for his first one to show up. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. Sebastian was shown in by nurse a minute after the doctor had left. Due to the broken arm and leg Sebastian was in a wheelchair.

"Hey," he said in a way that Ciel felt was greasy.

"Hello," Ciel replied flatly. He was still annoyed about the boyfriend claims.

Sebastian wheeled himself over to his bedside and smiled at him. He seemed to sense that Ciel wasn't in the mood for pleasantries as he started talking about something he was actually interested in hearing about.

"I can tell you everything so you won't feel left in the dark about how you survived," he offered.

Ciel's attention was piqued immediately. "I can't say I haven't wondered how I survived drug overdose and drowning."

"Finny and Mey-Rin found Bardroy knocked out and she managed to find Edward. Your cousin called the Police and worked out where you were based on what they told him."

Ciel was surprised to find that he owed his life to Edward. It was odd to think that they had disliked each other the week before.

"As for who pulled you out the lake singlehandedly and gave you mouth-to-mouth, that was me," Sebastian smirked.

Ciel squinted at Sebastian. The black-haired teenager was definitely in a wheelchair with a cast on his arm and leg.

"Sebastian, you're in a wheelchair," he scoffed.

Sebastian shrugged. "Anything for you."

"I'm going to tell the nurse to kick you out," Ciel threatened. A few days ago he would have put the phone down on him, now he didn't have that option.

Sebastian sighed dramatically. "If I must tell you; Edward was the one that dived in for you and gave you mouth-to-mouth."

Ciel shifted in his bed. It was odd to think that he now owed Edward his life. Knowing his cousin, he would probably hold it over him. Or maybe not considering how close they were now.

He looked at Sebastian again who now looked more serious.

"If I had any idea that you would end up overdosing on drugs and nearly during I would have told you to leave Weston College when we first met."

Ciel stayed silent for a while. If he'd left Weston College, Derrick Arden would still be around trying to make murdering scholarship students a tradition and would probably have killed Sebastian by now. Nothing would have been resolved.

"I'm alive and the police are interested in Derrick Arden," Ciel commented to change the tone.

"It shouldn't have happened if I had taken action much sooner," Sebastian sighed. "I'm sorry."

Ciel wasn't sure what to say in reply. It was true that if Sebastian had reported the prefects for supplying drugs before neither of them would be in hospital. Sebastian might be dead instead.

"Let's put this behind us," he said eventually.

Sebastian perked up and rapidly changed the subject.

"Edward beat me to your first kiss."

It took a moment for Ciel to realise that he was referring to the resuscitation and not Edward kissing him with romantic intentions. Then he processed Sebastian's implied meaning.

"Why do you think you've got a chance to kiss me?" he enquired archly.

It was finally time to find out if Sebastian's flirting had all been teasing or if he really was serious. Ciel wasn't sure what he would do if Sebastian was actually serious about him.

"I'm interested in going out with you," Sebastian stated plainly. "I've noticed that you haven't taken me seriously before."

Ciel averted his eyes self-consciously. He could feel Sebastian's gaze on him. His mind jumped to Mey-Rin. She obviously had no idea that Sebastian's interest was not in females.

"I had more important things to worry about at the time..." he said awkwardly.

"What about now?"

Ciel felt that he had been put on the spot rather unfairly. He was supposed to be recovering not answering dating requests. Did he want to date Sebastian? He was moderately attractive which wasn't a concern and he was intelligent which was important.

"I could try," he answered unsurely.

Sebastian beamed at him and leaned forward so their faces were less than a centimetre apart. Ciel glared at him. He had better not be going in for a kiss when he had only just agreed to date him. Their moment was disturbed by the door opening.

"Ciel, your parents are here," the nurse called out.

Sebastian withdrew his face hurriedly and Ciel internally cringed. It seemed like his parents had just caught him doing something inappropriate.

"I'll go now. You can give me your answer later," his love interest said hastily and wheeled himself out the room.

Ciel stared after him. Was the sight of his parents that scary? Admittedly his father could be intimidating.

"Was that the infamous Sebastian Michaelis?" was the first thing his mother asked. "He looks like nice young man."

His father didn't comment on Sebastian's presence and instead asked lots of questions about the Pudding Club. His mother interrupted regularly to ask how he was feeling.

"I had wondered if they were mixed up with drugs whilst I was at Weston College," he said once the interrogation was over. "I never got close enough to it to find out. I would have told you the details if I had."

"We've been wondering if we should pull you out of Weston College and you can go back to your old school," his mother said awkwardly. "You don't need to tell us all the details, we've heard from Edward and the Police."

Whilst Ciel was glad that he didn't have to tell his parents everything he had done, it had reminded him that he didn't know what had happened to the five guilty members of the secret society.

"Where is Derrick Arden now?"

"Still in police custody. He's had two charges of attempted murder against him. The prefects all testified against him and gave details about the drugs they administered to you to help the hospital. Those four are being charged for drug possession and supply along with him. The owners of the farm have been arrested for drug production as well. The prefects claim to be unaware of details regarding Joanne Harcourt's death and Sebastian's attempted murder. Do you believe that to be true?"

Ciel thought back to how shocked they were when they found out that Derrick had left Harcourt dying on the ground.

"I do. I still think they carry some responsibility because they weren't completely ignorant and knew something was going on. They just were too afraid to do anything about it."

"You have a point there," his father paused. "It's going to sound strange coming from me because of our family's... criminal leanings, but I think you did the right thing and I'm proud of you."

Ciel stared into his father's eyes to check if he was being serious and he was. He hadn't thought that the same person that had sent him to Weston College so happily would say he was proud of him for ruining a few of their traditions.

"I'm proud of you as well," his mother butted in and gave him an uncomfortably tight hug. "I just wish you hadn't nearly died in the process."

* * *

"Weston College is getting smeared in the tabloids," Sebastian commented the next evening. "They've dug up a few things from the past. Looks like someone really stick their balls in a pig's head 50 years ago."

Sebastian had somehow persuaded the nurse to let him hang around in Ciel's room all day. Ciel had been wondering if Sebastian would try anything of the amorous type again but nothing had happened. Their conversations had been perfectly normal.

"Of course someone did," Ciel rolled his eyes.

There was a knock on the door and he looked over to see the nurse showing Edward into his room.

"How are you feeling?" his cousin asked after looking at Sebastian in confusion.

"I'm getting better," Ciel answered. "...Thank you for saving me."

It wasn't an understatement to think that he wouldn't have survived without Edward.

Edward scratched his face awkwardly and Ciel could see that his ears were red. It reminded him of how shy Edward was around Lizzie.

"It's okay. I've never actually hated you. I wouldn't want you to die," he said hesitantly. "Lizzie would have killed me if I hadn't gone in after you. You're heavier than you look by the way. You eat too much cake."

It wasn't worth feeling offended by the insult. The thought of cake made his stomach turn. His involvement with the Pudding Club had made him lose his sweet tooth.

"Are you coming back to school? It's haywire there at the moment. Lots of parents have taken their children out. I got a lift here from Mum- she says she won't take me out of Weston unless I want to go. What are you going to do?"

Ciel saw Sebastian perk up and Edward looked hopeful that he would agree to return.

"I've missed the mock exams," was all he said.

"Only you would worry about missing mock exams," his cousin sighed and picked up the tea the nurse had made for him. "I'll let you off with that answer."

Sebastian chose that moment to make an outlandish comment that caused Edward to spit out the tea.

"If you come back to Weston College, I'll be your fag for life."

Ciel blinked and his mind took a few seconds to make sense of Sebastian's offer. Sebastian wanted to be his servant for life.

"I thought he meant something else for a second there," Edward commented after wiping up his mess.

Sebastian smirked. "I meant the other meaning as well."

Edward stared at Sebastian and cleared his throat. By now his face was a faint shade of red.

"I think I might be the third wheel here and my mother is waiting in the car. I'll take my leave now."

He left quickly leaving them alone.

"What skills do you have as a fag?" Ciel asked and realised that it sounded dodgy so he added an example. "Will you polish my shoes?"

"Of course. I'll make you tea as well," Sebastian replied easily.

Ciel nodded. "We might have a deal."

* * *

 **6 months later:**

"Ciel, the exams are finished, can we go on a date now?" Sebastian asked with a wink.

The pupil in question looked at his roommate irritably. Sebastian had been pestering him about going on a date for what felt like and probably was, half a year. After being discharged Ciel had decided to return to Weston College and Sebastian had followed him a month later.

There had been a number of changes to the school in the weeks that followed the incident. Derrick Arden and the prefects had been expelled and had upcoming court trials. Edward had become the green house prefect and Clayton had taken over Bluewer's position. The Pudding Club had disbanded and so had the dating club due to the tabloids finding out about it and writing lurid articles. Wordsmith had been distraught that he'd fallen for so many lies and became impossible to con.

Sebastian had become Ciel's roommate which had been fun for Ciel most of the time although had found being pestered for dates when he wanted to revise annoying. The constant supply of tea and sweets from Sebastian had helped though.

"We can go on one tomorrow," Ciel agreed casually.

His boyfriend's face lit up and Ciel smiled. Perhaps it wasn't too bad going out with Sebastian.

"I'll polish your shoes and make you a cake," he said. "Do I get a kiss on this date as well?"

"Depends on the quality of the cake," Ciel quipped.

"I'm going to get started now," Sebastian said eagerly and left the room.

For someone that acted like a sleazy playboy sharing a room with Sebastian had been uneventful. He had been given plenty of space and peace which he had needed after getting out of the hospital.

* * *

His father came to pick them up a week later. Sebastian's parents weren't due back in England for a month and Ciel's mother had offered to let him stay at their house for a month so they were leaving together.

They were seen off by the strange combination of the headmaster, Wordsmith, Mey-Rin and Finny. The pair had cried profusely and Ciel had promised to contact them regularly.

"Did you manage to get a fag?" his father asked once they had left the grounds.

The long driveway out of Weston College looked less imposing than it had all those months ago. Instead of being drenched in snow it was surrounded by grassy banks and flowers and the sun was shining.

"Sebastian volunteered to be mine," Ciel said with a glance at Sebastian.

His boyfriend winked playfully at him and Ciel nudged him sharply. Although they were in the back seat his father was observant and might notice the wink. He hadn't broken the news about having a boyfriend.

His father nodded in satisfaction. "I told you it would be useful to get one."

"This is the last time you get to look at Weston College," Sebastian announced a minute later. "Are you going to miss it?"

Ciel took a glance at the old Victorian building that he had spent the remainder of his schooldays in and remembered how cold and impractical it had been. The other pupils that had remained hadn't been too fond of him for exposing its secrets either. It was fortunate he had been too focused on exams to care.

"I won't miss it," he said truthfully and turned to look at Sebastian.

The only thing he had gained out of it was Sebastian and the satisfaction of solving the mystery. He watched the Weston College disappear out of view with no regrets.

 **The End**

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you to everyone that supported this story.**

 **The story is named after Solomon's Perjury which is a Japanese novel with a couple of similarities. I've never actually read it though, I only know the basic plot and didn't use it as a base for the plot of mine. My Dad actually named this story, I said Solomon's Perjury was the working title and couldn't think of an actual title and he just said to change it to purgatory and I didn't have any better ideas so I did.**

 **This story is now complete. I am not sure about adding extra chapters at the moment. Some stories are better left untouched.**

 **I have no idea what my future writing projects will be. I'm really busy with work as you can tell from the long gaps between updates. I have stopped writing for Ghost Hunt which I have been writing for since 2013, but I still am open to writing more Kuroshitsuji fanfics.**


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